


Conception

by aquariuslover



Series: Expectations! [11]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, Infinite (Band), Star Trek, Super Junior, 소녀시대 | Girls' Generation | SNSD
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-07 05:20:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14664132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquariuslover/pseuds/aquariuslover
Summary: An explosion sends an away team spiraling toward destruction. As the power of the captain and Jaejoong’s timeless bond is stretched to the breaking point, unlikely heroes rise to the challenge. New allies are found, and new enemies emerge. Someone once lost is found, while another is lost in time.





	1. The Hugging can Recommence .

**Author's Note:**

> My deepest thanks always to Amy and tahoeturquoise!
> 
> Kudos are loved and appreciated!

She was sitting on the floor in Ten Forward, leaning against the window, looking out at the vastness of space when he found her.  
  
“Sulli?”  
  
Before turning around she reached up and wiped her face. “Changmin, what are you doing here?”  
  
He walked closer and replied, “I could ask you the same thing.”  
  
“You could and I would answer.”  
  
“Why are you in Ten Forward, and why are you crying?” Changmin asked, inspecting her tear stained face closely as he came to a stop in front of her.  
  
Sulli made no attempt to stand, she just grinned up at him. “I think you just slipped in two questions.”  
  
Changmin furrowed his brows. “I did not realize that you had put a limitation on the number of questions I could ask.”  
  
She looked away from him and back to the vastness of space. “I wanted a quiet place where I could think.”  
  
“And why are you crying?”  
  
She did not turn back to face him. “Do you really want to know?”  
  
He knelt down beside her. “I would not have asked if I did not want to know the answer.”  
  
She reached up and covered her mouth to control the sobs that threatened to overcome her. He waited patiently as she mastered her control and began to explain. “I’m crying because I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. I’m happy because it feels like we are getting closer to SooYoung. And I feel like crying because…because I can’t help but worry. What has happened to her during all this time? What if what happened to me…happened to her? Changmin, she’s so proud and perfect…I couldn’t bear that for her.”  
  
Changmin instinctively reached out a hand and gently squeezed Sulli’s shoulder and said in as a reassuring voice as he could manage, “The reports that we have gotten all seem to conclude that the Warlord Hangeng’s wife took favor with her. Even Jaejoong told us that Joong’s prize humans they can’t read telepathically. If the Joong prizes her, I highly doubt any harm has come to her.”  
  
Sulli looked doubtful. “I thought we weren’t sure if she would be psi null to Joongs? Didn’t Jaejoong—”  
  
Changmin shook his head. “Nobody knows for certain, and also, Jaejoong is a prince of Joong, and more gifted than the average Joong.”  
  
Sulli started sobbing, much to Changmin’s surprise. “I did not intend to upset you more…is this not comforting news?”  
  
She flung herself into his arms, continuing to sob. Changmin held her in utter confusion. His attempts to comfort her had failed. He held her for several minutes as she soaked his uniform with her tears. When she finally stopped crying she did not let go of him. She clung to him and with a weak, hoarse voice she began to ramble, “I want so badly for her to be spared from all the misery I have known. I want her to escape all the cruelties this galaxy has to offer. I don’t want what happened to me…to happen to her. I want her to be the SooYoung she always was. But…what will she think when she finds out about me? I try to be strong. I try to smile all the time, but Changmin…what will she think when she finds out? It’s horrible enough that Minho knows what happened to me. I don’t want SooYoung to know. I don’t want anybody to know. I hope that wherever the souls of my parents are, they don’t know. I would hate for them to know. They called me their happy girl. I try so hard to be the girl that I used to be, and sometimes it isn’t hard at all. Sometimes I feel like it should be harder…sometimes I can’t help but be happy…and then there are times like this…when I just want to cry.”  
  
When she paused from rambling, Changmin quickly told her, “Sulli, please let go of me for a moment.”  
  
Sulli released Changmin and jumped back, horrified at her own behavior. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I keep forgetting that you are back to being you, and you don’t like to be hugged. See, I never knew you when you were…you. I just knew the other you; I’m so sorry! SooYoung used to tell me what you were like. How reserved you were. I forgot. I will remember from now on, that you are back to being you.”  
  
“Back to being me?”  
  
Sulli nodded her head as Changmin sat down on the floor beside her. “You aren’t Joong-like anymore.”  
  
“Although my appearance has returned to its former state, I am still half Joong.”  
  
Sulli winced and squeezed her hands and clarified, “When you were blond…you were happy and huggy.”  
  
“Huggy is not a word, Sulli.”  
  
“Well, you liked hugs then and you were more accessible.”  
  
“Am I not accessible now?”  
  
Sulli opened her mouth and closed it.  
  
“Am I not accessible to you? I make certain to see you daily. I had hoped to continue our friendship. Do you find my current state unsatisfactory?”  
  
“No, no, no…I just was sorry for hugging you,” Sulli quickly tried to explain.  
  
“Sulli, I asked for you to let go of me just for a moment. I was kneeling and I was in a very uncomfortable position. There was no need for it, so I asked you to let go of me so I could sit in a more comfortable position. The hugging can recommence if you wish.”  
  
Laughter burst from Sulli at Changmin’s words.  
  
“Have you decided on this round of emotions now?” Changmin asked as the young women held her belly and laughed unabashedly.  
  
“Yes, I have. Changmin, you are so funny!”  
  
“Although it was not my intention, I will not deny that I much prefer to see you laughing than crying. I have seen and heard you cry enough for this lifetime. I do not wish to see it anymore,” Changmin told her, remembering back on their time spent on Belara.  
  
Sulli stopped laughing and gave him a sad smile. “But Changmin, one can not promise to never cry again.”  
  
“I know this, but still I wish it could end permanently. It is most distressing,” Changmin explained to her as he reached out and clasped her hand, much to her surprise. “I would much rather see you laughing and rambling on endlessly.”  
  
She darted her eyes away from him for a moment and asked, “Do you remember everything I told you in the stable?”  
  
“I would not know. I do not remember what I don’t remember.”  
  
“Changmin!”  
  
“It is logical statement, but to answer you, I remember many things that you told me in the stable.”  
  
“Like what?” she asked, looking back out the window to avoid his intelligent gaze.  
  
“It is not important to rehash that. I will only say that I highly approve of the name Aslan for a cat.”  
  
“Aslan,” Sulli repeated, looking back at Changmin with glassy eyes.  
  
Changmin sighed and told her, “I did not mention the cat to make you cry.”  
  
“I know…but I can’t help it. I miss him.”  
  
“What kind of cat was he?” Changmin questioned, hoping to distract her  
  
“He was a big orange tabby. He was so cuddly. Some cats do not like to snuggle, but he did,” Sulli explained as tears trickled down her cheeks as she remembered the life that was. “Changmin, I am afraid we won’t be able to be friends if you don’t want to see me cry. I tend to cry a lot.”  
  
“Ending our friendship is not an option.”  
  
Sulli’s eyes widened and she let go of Changmin’s hand to cover her mouth with both of hers. He gently shook his head, held out his arms and was not surprised this time when she launched herself at him. He hugged her back and explained, “Although my Joong physical features have disappeared, leaving me looking perfectly human, it seems that the part of me that was not receptive…closed off before has been left slightly ajar now. It isn’t that I didn’t have friendships before…I did have a select few. And I have always loved Yunho; it’s just that now I find myself attached to both you and Jaejoong.”  
  
Sulli smiled into Changmin’s neck and teased, “You keep saying Jaejoong; don’t you mean Mom?”  
  
“Mom is much too busy being angry at Yunho to be eavesdropping on me, so it is safe for me to say Jaejoong.”  
  
Sulli pulled back from Changmin grinning. “Jaejoong had to know the captain was never going to allow him to go on away missions with him again.”  
  
“Well, not while he is shifting, for certain,” Changmin replied, with a frown. “This ship is going to create an awful reputation for the Federation in this galaxy.”  
  
“I thought the people of Valmont were in awe of them?” Sulli asked with a twinkle in her eye, loving to watch Changmin squirm at the thought of his parents having sex in front of a coliseum full of thousands of people.  
  
“They are a most disgusting race indeed if they found that display…awe inspiring.”  
  
Sulli fought back her chuckle and told Changmin in a deadpan voice, “I agree.”  
  
Changmin studied her intently. “Are you teasing me? I can never tell.”  
  
“I’m not telling.”  
  
Changmin eyed her suspiciously and informed her, “You can be very frustrating at times.”  
  
“But you love me anyway,” Sulli teased.  
  
Changmin’s face went very blank at her innocent words, as he truly pondered them…did he love her? It was true that he was terribly fond of her, that he sought her out. He knew that she and Jaejoong filled a space in him that had been void before. Jaejoong was his parent and his instructor in all things Joong. With Jaejoong, the attachment had come over a period of weeks; with Sulli it had been instantly upon their first encounter. Even with his more unpredictable Joong emotions firmly under control now, he still desired to be in her company. When Jaejoong hugged him he cringed and attempted to escape his overly affectionate parent, and yet with Sulli…  
  
  
****************  
  
Yunho smiled appreciatively at Jaejoong as he walked beside him down the corridor toward the docking bay. “Why are you not wearing your uniform?”  
  
Jaejoong, who was wearing something white, delicate and lacey, lifted his chin and told Yunho hotly, “Since I’m not allowed to go on away missions, why should I have to wear that constricting uniform? I will wear proper Joong clothing from now on. Don’t act like you don’t like it.”  
  
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. It looks really nice.”  
  
“Well, you would be the only one on this ship that didn’t appreciate it, if you didn’t like it.”  
  
“Jaejoong.”  
  
“I can’t help if I am admired by many…hundreds…thousands…actually countless humans…countless beings would be more accurate, I suppose. My admirers are not limited to humanoids.”  
  
“I am glad you are admired.”  
  
“You are?”  
  
“Of course; as long as they don’t touch, they are free to admire you all they want.”  
  
Jaejoong puffed out his cheeks and Yunho could almost see steam rising from his head. “Well, maybe they will get to touch! I will be stuck on this ship without you, while I am undergoing the third stage of shifting! My hormones are out of control, so if I betray you it isn’t my fault. I warned you!”  
  
Yunho snorted. “I’m so worried.”  
  
“It could happen!”  
  
“Yeah, right.”  
  
“Argh! You make me so angry!” Jaejoong declared as he grabbed a hold of Yunho’s arm and begged, “You are right, I would never let anybody else touch me! I can’t stand the thought of you being away from me. Please take me with you! Please!”  
  
Yunho pulled away from Jaejoong, frowning. “Don’t! You promised you wouldn’t.”  
  
“I made no such promises!”  
  
“Okay, so you didn’t actually promise, but I thought we came to an understanding.”  
  
“No, you just told me that you were going down to that blasted planet without me. I had no say in the matter!”  
  
“Well, I think you know why you are not allowed to go on a mission with me.”  
  
“Yunho!”  
  
_“Until you finish shifting,”_  Yunho quickly amended telepathically.  
  
“If your damn sperm would do their job!”  
  
“You mean if your eggs were a little more receptive,” Yunho threw back at his mate. “They are probably snobby eggs. The Royal Eggs of Joong probably don’t want to mingle with mere mortal human sperm.”  
  
Jaejoong fought to keep from smiling and failed. “You are not funny.”  
  
“Why are you smiling then?”  
  
Jaejoong wrapped his arm around Yunho and leaned against him as they continued toward the docking bay. “Because you are a stupid dork.”  
  
“Stupid dork?”  
  
“Yes, but  _my_  stupid dork,” Jaejoong answered, still smiling.  
  
Yunho grinned and continued, “It’s true, though. You have both sperm and eggs…maybe Changmin is all yours. I am sure your snobby eggs would like your royal sperm.”  
  
Jaejoong pushed Yunho away, disgusted. “That’s not even possible! Not to mention gross.”  
  
“Gross? I thought you’d like the idea,” Yunho teased. “A pure Joong baby of your own to love you best.”  
  
“No, I want your baby.”  
  
Yunho continued to tease him, “Are you sure? Just think, he wouldn’t have any of those nasty human features you dislike so much. No brown hair or eyes.”  
  
Jaejoong shook his head, disliking the idea more and more.  
  
“I am sure Dr. Cho could help you out with it.”  
  
Jaejoong reached out and smacked Yunho’s arm. “I don’t want a baby if it isn’t yours! It’s obvious Changmin is yours!”  
  
Yunho, who couldn’t keep from grinning, reached and rubbed his arm where Jaejoong had smacked him. “You are interested in the idea. Don’t pretend you aren’t.”  
  
“Joongs can not impregnate themselves! The bond would never—” Jaejoong stopped suddenly and eyed Yunho suspiciously, then snapped loudly, “Quit trying to distract me from the fact that you are going down to a planet without me! What if you get hurt? What if you die? What if you need me to manipulate the masses?”  
  
Yunho reached up and touched his temple.  _“If we are going to disagree in the corridors, we have to do it telepathically or not at all.”_  
  
Jaejoong latched onto Yunho’s arm again, pleading telepathically,  _“Please take me with you. I promise we won’t have sex while on the planet…unless you really want to.”  
  
“Jaejoong!”  
  
“It’s not like I force you!”_  
  
_“That’s the problem, and that’s why you are not going. When you are done shifting and I am not dependent on Dr. Cho’s injections for my sanity…then you can start joining me on away missions again. I actually like you being on away missions. Your telepathic abilities really contribute to our missions’ success.”  
  
“Now you are handling me, Captain!”_  
  
Yunho stopped and turned to face Jaejoong, placing both of his hands on Jaejoong’s shoulders.  _“You know I always want you with me, but can you please remember that I am the captain and I have other responsibilities? Responsibilities I must not ignore.”  
  
“I know, but making Changmin should be the priority.”  
  
“We spent five days having nothing but constant sex, and for the last three days—”  
  
“You have totally neglected my sexual desires!”_  
  
Yunho sighed, continuing,  _“We have had sex at least six times a day. I don’t think we can force Changmin’s conception. It will happen when it happens.”  
  
“I don’t like the thought of you being so far away from me on a planet and unable to beam back to the ship. What if something happens? What if you need me?”  
  
“A shuttle is completely safe.”  
  
“What happens when you get out of the shuttle?”  
  
“Jaejoong, I have to go. SooYoung might be on the planet as we speak. We have to get her back.”  
  
“And then what?”  
  
“Then we can seriously start thinking about how to get home,” Yunho told Jaejoong.  
  
“You mean Earth?”  
  
“Yes, Earth. I would like to see my mother again.”  
  
“I thought it was impossible to get home in your life time? The distance is too great.”_  
  
Yunho nodded his head.  _“Yes, but I think we have to start trying. We got here didn’t we? Maybe there is a way back.”_  
  
_“Will your mom like me?”_  
  
Yunho grinned. _“She’ll love you.”_  
  
Jaejoong’s jaw fell open and accused aloud, “Jung Yunho, you are lying! I can feel it!”  
  
“She might think a little roughly of the woman that abandoned Changmin on her doorstep,” Yunho explained to Jaejoong. “She doesn’t know the circumstances. She just knows she was forced to raise her grandson as her son.”  
  
“Well…well…he isn’t her son. He is my son,” Jaejoong said, suddenly feeling territorial.  
  
“Oh, so you are now ready to claim the title of mom?”  
  
“No, I am not. I am the birth-parent, which is a hundred times more powerful than a simple mother,” Jaejoong explained hotly.  
  
Yunho shook his head and started back down the corridor. “Actually, to most humans, having a mother is very important. A mother signifies a safe place, a person that will always love you, no matter what. You should be flattered that Changmin calls you mom.”  
  
“Changmin doesn’t say it to flatter me, he says it to piss me off,” Jaejoong quickly clarified.  
  
“But you let him annoy you. If you gave him a big bear hug and told him you loved being his mommy, I guarantee you he would stop calling you mom,” Yunho told Jaejoong as they reached the entrance to the docking bay.  
  
“And you are only telling me this now?”  
  
“I rarely part with my Changmin wisdom, but since you are going to walk in here with me and be totally professional, I thought I would share for once,” Yunho explained hopefully.  
  
Jaejoong eyed the door. “I am going to act professional, am I?”  
  
“Please.”  
  
“I’ll be good,” Jaejoong told Yunho as he walked through the doors.  
  
“Thank you.” Yunho told his mate gratefully as he followed him into the docking bay.  
  
Around the shuttle stood Dr. Cho, Lieutenant Sungmin, Ensign Junsu, Ensign Kangin, Ensign SungGyu, Siwon, and Shindong.  
  
Dr. Cho looked up at the captain and Jaejoong as soon as they entered. “Captain, are you positive that you do not require me on this mission?”  
  
“Doctor, we have already discussed this. Your safety is vital to the entire ship. We can not continue to risk our only sane doctor on away missions.”  
  
“Yes, Sir,” Ryeowook responded, and added, “I will continue to search for a proper assistant.”  
  
“Good,” Yunho told him as he walked past him toward the shuttle. “Is everything in order?”  
  
“Captain, the shuttle is in excellent condition; all systems are a go,” Ensign Junsu answered Yunho.  
  
“Its maintenance does fall under engineering,” Yunho said with a grin, knowing that Commander Yoochun was forever demanding perfection from his department.  
  
Ensign SungGyu nodded his head, remembering well his time in Engineering and the Commander’s demands of excellence.  
  
“Ensign SungGyu, are you ready for your first away mission?” Yunho asked the young ensign.  
  
“Yes, Sir,” SungGyu answered, promptly.  
  
“Good,” Yunho replied and turned to Shindong. “I wish we could take you with us, but I am very grateful for all the information you have supplied us with.”  
  
“It’s ridiculous that I can’t join you! I have been to the planet Kanzi a half a dozen times. My legs are fine. I should be going with you,” Shindong grumbled.  
  
“I must listen to my Chief Medical Officer’s recommendations,” Yunho explained.  
  
“Too bad your Chief Medical Officer is an over protective pussy,” Shindong complained to the captain as he stormed out of the docking bay, glaring at Ryeowook as he passed by him.  
  
Jaejoong, who was waiting in the back of the docking bay standing beside Ryeowook, bumped into Ryeowook’s shoulder and whispered, “You are so popular.”  
  
“Behave,” Ryeowook hissed.  
  
“You are just faltering in all areas. Kyuhyun, Changmin, and Shindong are all extremely annoyed with you…none more so than your own husband. And my darling mate has to go down to that planet without a doctor, because you can’t find an assistant,” Jaejoong taunted.  
  
“I don’t know if you have noticed, but most of the people on this ship already have a job; not all of them can just loaf around all day like you, waiting for Yunho to come service them,” Ryeowook spat back at Jaejoong.  
  
“Ouch!” Jaejoong eyes widened at Ryeowook’s venomous words.  
  
“Lieutenant, are we ready?” Yunho asked Sungmin.  
  
“Ready, Sir,” Sungmin answered. “Shindong has given us ample information about the planet Kanzi. We will be landing in a secluded area near the estate where the Warlord Hangeng is rumored to be staying.”  
  
Yunho nodded his head and motioned for the away team to start boarding, but he did not join them. Yunho instead walked to where Jaejoong was waiting with Ryeowook, and took his mate’s hand, “I will see you later. Try not to traumatize Changmin too much.”  
  
Jaejoong embraced Yunho tightly. “I won’t, I will be too busy worrying about you. I hate planets with atmospheres that you can’t beam through. I don’t think we should visit planets like this anymore.”  
  
“If it weren’t for atmospheres like this one, I never would have met you. You do realize that?” Yunho asked Jaejoong as he hugged him back just as tightly.  
  
“You didn’t visit it though! You were kidnapped,” Jaejoong reminded Yunho. “Try not to get kidnapped this time.”  
  
“I can’t make any promises, but I will do my best.”  
  
“Yunho! That’s not funny!”  
  
Yunho pulled away from Jaejoong and kissed him on the forehead. “Every mission is an adventure. You just never know.”  
  
“Is this supposed to make me feel better?”  
  
Yunho chuckled and told his lover, “I will be fine. Junsu’s piloting skills are second to none.”  
  
“What if something happens to Junsu?”  
  
“We are all more than capable of flying a shuttle craft.” Yunho took a step back. “Now, I have a lost lieutenant to retrieve.”  
  
“Be careful, Captain,” Ryeowook told Yunho.  
  
“I will be, Doctor. Watch him for me,” Yunho said, pointing at Jaejoong.  
  
“I will,” Ryeowook promised.  
  
“You two need to leave now,” Yunho told them as he turned and walked toward the shuttle, “unless you want to get sucked into the great void of space when the docking bay opens.”  
  
“We are leaving,” Ryeowook answered as he grabbed Jaejoong’s hand and pulled him toward the exit.  
  
“I am going to have a mental breakdown before he gets back. It just seems like a disaster is waiting to happen,” Jaejoong told Ryeowook as they exited the docking bay. “I do not have a good feeling about this mission.”  
  
Ryeowook, who had been sharp with Jaejoong earlier, looked at the worried Joong with sympathy. “Before we had transporters we had to use shuttles for everything. He will be okay.”  
  
“You don’t know that. I don’t know that…why are you being so nice now?”  
  
“I am always nice, you are the one who was rude to me first,” Ryeowook replied as he headed toward sickbay.  
  
Jaejoong followed after Ryeowook. “It’s because if I can’t be with him you need to be with him.”  
  
“I know,” Ryeowook agreed with a sigh. “But the shuttle is full of medical equipment, plus it has a stasis chamber.”  
  
“That doesn’t make me feel any better!”  
  
“I know it doesn’t, but remember they are all trained in first aid.”  
  
“I should have just snuck on to the shuttle,” Jaejoong moaned. “Yunho doesn’t need some primitive healing methods…he needs me.”  
  
“We shouldn’t even be talking like this. Yunho isn’t even hurt! You are jumping to conclusions. They will be fine.”  
  
“You don’t know how I feel!”  
  
“Really? Do you know how many times Kyuhyun has gone off on dangerous missions and all I could do was sit back and pray he would be okay?”  
  
“That’s different! You signed on for this. You both are Star Fleet officers.”  
  
“That doesn’t make it any easier…I just have to deal. You have to learn to deal, too. Yunho is not going to stop going on missions. It’s too hard for him to send others into danger,” Ryeowook told Jaejoong.  
  
“If I am with him then that is perfectly okay.”  
  
Ryeowook smirked. “We both know you aren’t going on any more missions until you stop shifting.”  
  
“I don’t understand what the big deal is! So what if we had sex in front of a few people? Everybody knows we have sex! We are bonded! We have a son!”  
  
“A few people? Umm…thirty thousand people is a lot more than a few.”  
  
“Numbers,” Jaejoong grumbled. “If I would just get pregnant this wouldn’t be a problem.”  
  
“Or if you stop shifting.”  
  
“That could take weeks,” Jaejoong admitted and then declared with new determination. “While Yunho is gone we are going to find you an assistant!”  
  
“Jaejoong, it isn’t that easy. A doctor should have a natural tendency toward healing, and we can’t make somebody do something they don’t want to do,” Ryeowook explained as they entered a lift. “I can’t just make somebody be my assistant even if they have that natural tendency.”  
  
Jaejoong just smiled at Ryeowook.  
  
“Jaejoong!”  
  
“It’s for the good of the ship, Doctor!”  
  
  
*****************  
  
“Changmin, I was teasing you!” Sulli blushed and blurted out, interrupting Changmin’s inner thoughts. “Don’t over analyze it. Friends, remember?”  
  
Changmin cursed the redness he could feel spreading across his cheeks, matching hers. “I have stopped.”  
  
She reached out and smacked his arm. “Good!”  
  
“So you have given up laughter and tears for violence. I must say that—”  
  
“Changmin!” Sulli screamed as the ship suddenly lurched sideways, throwing her up against the window. Changmin landed on top of her as the ship leaned dangerously to one side. Red lights immediately started flashing, and the ship’s computer repeated, “Red Alert. Red Alert! Red Alert!”  
  
Sulli turned her head to the side facing away from Changmin and stared out the window that she was now pressed up against. She could feel Changmin’s breath against her skin, and fought down the urge to scream. Hugging Changmin and having him on top of her were two entirely different experiences for her. She pushed away memories of the torture she had endured at Mr. Eggleton’s hands. “Changmin?”  
  
“I do not know. The ship must have come under attack. The inertial damper systems seem to have failed,” Changmin explained, attempting to gather his considerable intellect to focus on the ship’s problems, but found he was focused on Sulli instead. He did not move away from her. He was acutely aware of her body underneath him. He found that his body was very sensitive to the fact that she was a female, and not disliking their proximity.  
  
Sulli squeezed her eyes shut and asked, “Why is it so bright?”  
  
“Bright?” Changmin asked, not having noticed the bright light emanating from the window until she mentioned it. Changmin sat up quickly, his mind now firmly focused on the ship. “The shields are up, and we appear to have entered the planet’s ionosphere. I must get to the bridge.”  
  
“That isn’t good, is—”  
  
Before Sulli could finish, the ship righted itself in space and they slid down the window to the floor. “Well, that is better,” Sulli said, sighing in relief.  
  
Changmin stood up quickly.  
  
“Changmin, it’s getting less bright, does that mean we are returning to space?” Sulli asked, still staring out the window. Changmin did not answer. Sulli stood up quickly to look at Changmin, who had turned pale. “Changmin, what’s wrong?” Sulli asked, full of concern; reaching out and taking Changmin’s hand.  
  
Changmin stared at her looking completely lost and told her, “Something…something terrible has happened.”  
  
*****************  
  
“Ugh,” Ryeowook moaned as the lift righted itself and he crashed back down to the floor. Jaejoong promptly landed on top of him. “What the heck is going on?”  
  
Jaejoong gave no answer, causing Ryeowook to quickly pull himself free of the telepath. Ryeowook quickly assessed Jaejoong and found no broken bones, “Jaejoong, wake up. What is going on?”  
  
Red lights flashed in the lift and the computer repeated, “Red Alert.”  
  
  
Ryeowook gently slapped the side of Jaejoong’s face. “Jaejoong.”  
  
The door to lift swished open and Kyuhyun entered the lift. Kyuhyun, who was on his way to the bridge, looked down at the deathly still Joong and asked, “What happened?”  
  
“I was about to ask you that,” Ryeowook told his husband as he tired once again to wake the Joong and failed.  
  
“I haven’t been reinstated to duty, so I have no clue what is going on,” Kyuhyun explained as he kneeled down beside Jaejoong.  
  
“Can we not argue about that now?”  
  
“I was just stating a fact,” Kyuhyun told Ryeowook. “Is he hurt? Why isn’t he awake?”  
  
Ryeowook shook his head. “I have no idea. We both got tossed around the lift, but nothing that would cause this level of injury…unless he broke his neck.”  
  
“Wouldn’t he heal himself?”  
  
“He should…maybe he is healing himself now.”  
  
The insignia on Jaejoong’s uniform chirped, and Ryeowook tapped it. “Dr. Cho here.”  
  
“Dr. Cho, is Jaejoong with you?” Changmin’s asked.  
  
“He is, but he’s not exactly conscious.”  
  
“Has Yunho left the ship?” Changmin asked, and the concern in his voice had Ryeowook looking up to meet Kyuhyun’s eyes.  
  
“He has…” Ryeowook paused, slowly realizing what had happened.  
  
“What’s going on?” Kyuhyun demanded, seeing the horror in Ryeowook’s eyes.  
  
Changmin answered in a pain filled voice, “I think Yunho is dying.”


	2. Greasy

A searing pain shot through his back, and he bit his bottom lip to keep from screaming out. He forced the pain from his mind and studied the flickering readings on the escape pod’s screen in front of him. From the rough landing he had already determined they had landed on dry land. The lights in the pod went black, showing that the pod had not escaped the effects of the rough electrical currents in the atmosphere that had destroyed the shuttle.  
  
He was confident that he would be able to repair the pod, but that was not the priority at the moment. He pulled the handle on the pod and it didn’t open. He gritted his teeth and kicked the emergency lever, and the pod opened to a most unwelcome sight.  
  
An older, dark haired, bearded man glowered down at him, while aiming what resembled an early 1900’s shotgun at him. “Get up!”  
  
He knew it would be too dangerous to grab for a phaser so he slowly got up, ignoring his back pain. His mind raced over the information he had received in the briefings before the mission. They are on Kanzi, a Hangeng controlled world. It was a large class M planet with a population of just a little over two billion people. It was made up of a vast variety of settlements that focused on farming with only a few large cities scattered among its continents. Like all the planets controlled by the warlords, its technological evolution was closely monitored. But unlike the ZhouMi controlled worlds, Hangeng treated his planets much more kindly, and they were fiercely loyal to the warlord in return.  
  
SungGyu took in his surroundings, noticing they were in a clearing surrounded by woods. He quickly counted six other men that were all armed with similar guns. SungGyu then focused on finding the other members of the crew. Not twenty feet from him another escape pod was being opened and SungGyu watched as Ensign Junsu climbed out of it at gun point. Junsu’s gaze met SungGyu’s and he asked, “Where are—”  
  
“Ensign,” SungGyu shouted in warning, interrupting Junsu.  
  
Junsu immediately caught on and clamped his mouth shut, quickly grasping the lower ranking ensign’s warning. Now was not the time to mention the others.  
  
“Where are what?” the man closest to Junsu asked as he nudged Junsu with the gun.  
  
With all eyes on Junsu, SungGyu quickly reached up and turned the volume on his insignia off and tapped it attempting to contact the others. He left the insignia on so if anybody was out there they could listen in, but not be heard by the men.  
  
Junsu said nothing.  
  
“Are there more of you?” A dirty looking, stringy haired blond man asked. “You are from that damn ship the Expectations aren’t you? I recognize your clothing. Are you trying to cause trouble for our Lord Hangeng now? Was ZhouMi not enough for you?”  
  
A clean shaven man with short gray hair, who appeared older than the others walked up to the blond haired man and stated, “Not that we mind you giving that rat faced bastard trouble, but our Lord Hangeng takes good care of us.”  
  
SungGyu debated if he should interject himself into the conversation, when he heard another man yell, “I found another one of them!”  
  
The gray headed man grinned. “Ah, so there was another one.”  
  
“We should just shoot them now,” the blond man insisted. “They are a sneaky lot. If we give them one chance they will have us.”  
  
“Don’t be so hasty, Cob. Pat them down real good. We can’t be rash. We need to get word to Lord Hangeng. We have to follow his orders,” the gray headed man, who appeared to be in charge, replied.  
  
SungGyu watched as Cob patted down Junsu, and he allowed another man, not the one aiming the shotgun at him to pat him down. “Boss, what do we do with this?” the man patting down SungGyu asked as he pulled his insignia off of him.  
  
The gray haired man answered, “Throw it their little ship thing. I am sure Lord Hangeng will want all their equipment.”  
  
A younger man raced up to the gray haired man and exclaimed, “I don’t know if the other one is alive. The little ship he is in is all torn up. We can’t get him out.”  
  
Junsu gasped but kept quiet.  
  
SungGyu quickly offered, “I can get it open.”  
  
“I am sure you can, but why would I let you?” The gray headed man asked him.  
  
“Because you said yourself, that our fate should be left up to Lord Hangeng,” SungGyu quickly reminded the man the others called boss.  
  
The man eyed SungGyu suspiciously and asked, “And is that the only reason?”  
  
“No, I also want to help him,” SungGyu answered, honestly.  
  
“Fair enough, but if you do anything suspicious I’ll have that one over there pumped full of lead,” the boss told SungGyu as he pointed to Junsu.  
  
“Understood.” SungGyu agreed.  
  
They were led deeper into the woods with shotguns pressed against their backs. When they reached the escape pod SungGyu and Junsu were both taken aback by the sight of the damaged pod. It was bent almost in half with a large jagged tear across the center of it.  
  
SungGyu hurried toward the pod and Junsu quickly followed. SungGyu quickly went to work on opening the pod. Having been one of Commander Yoochun’s favorites in engineering, he had overseen shuttle inspections enough times to be extremely familiar with the escape pods. The strange atmospheric occurrences that had destroyed the shuttle had done their best to destroy the pod. The electrical system in the pod was fried beyond repair, but he was able to open the pod with the backup mechanical safety valve.  
  
“I am going to need your help,” SungGyu told Junsu as he tried to pry the door to the pod open and failed. “It’s really beat up.”  
  
Junsu nodded his head and grabbed the door, and told the lower ranking ensign, “On the count of three. One, two, three.”  
  
“Oh, God,” Junsu exclaimed as they managed to open the door. Inside the pod was Yunho, who had blue tinged clammy skin and blood covering his chest and lower body.  
  
SungGyu quickly slid his hand over the captain’s chest and then reached down to feel for a pulse. “We have to get him out of there. He’s barely got a pulse.”  
  
“He isn’t breathing,” Junsu exclaimed fearfully.  
  
SungGyu and Junsu reached inside the pod, each taking a hold of the captain, and pulled him free of the battered escape pod. The movement caused Yunho to let out a small shallow breath.  
  
“We need a doctor,” SungGyu demanded as he turned around and faced the men behind him.  
  
Junsu bent down and covered Yunho’s mouth with his own and gave him two slow deep breaths.  
  
“A doctor? You have to be joking. That’s the captain of your ship. We all know what he looks like. He wasn’t hiding his face when he was threatening the Warlord ZhouMi,” the man named Cob told SungGyu.  
  
SungGyu sized the man up quickly and said in a scornful voice, “You are always talking about the Warlord ZhouMi. Are you one of his fans? Are you hoping he will take over your world some day and turn all your people into his slaves? Or maybe you just hope he kidnaps you someday. Looking forward to being tortured and raped, are you?”  
  
SungGyu evaded Cob when the angered man threw a punch at him. SungGyu easily grabbed him and tossed him on the ground. “You can either save us all, or you and your world can suffer the consequences!”  
  
“Is that a threat?” Cob yelled from the ground.  
  
The young ensign glared down at him and stated matter of factually, “No, it’s a promise.”  
  
“Calm down, men!” The man they called boss ordered. “He’s right about one thing. Anyone who gave the Warlord ZhouMi hell is not our enemy.”  
  
“No, I wish they had killed the perverted fucker,” a man in the background agreed.  
  
Another man agreed, “The sick bastard deserves to die.”  
  
“This isn’t about ZhouMi, this is about Lord Hangeng! He’s always been good to us. This guy is full of empty threats. His captain will be dead soon enough, so that means his Joong is good as dead,” Cob pointed out to everybody.  
  
“Maybe the captain will die, and his mate along with him, but his son won’t be dead. His ship full of loyal crewmembers won’t be dead. They will all be up there, including his best friend who is in command of the ship now. And let me warn you, Commander Yoochun is not somebody you want to make angry. He’s up there right now in charge of a ship that can lay waste to your entire planet, worrying about his friend,” SungGyu bluffed, knowing that a Federation Star Ship officer would never destroy a planet.  
  
Junsu listened as he kept breathing air into the captain, hoping and praying the captain’s breathing would return on its own. The captain’s pulse had grown stronger, but the breathing remained shallow. The captain’s color had improved slightly, but Junsu knew it was only due to the air he was breathing into the captain.  
  
The gray haired man studied SungGyu intently and then turned to a younger man beside him, and asked, “Is Greasy still in town?”  
  
“Yeah, he said he wasn’t going back to the city till the pox had cleared up,” the younger man answered.  
  
“There are supplies in our escape pod that we can use to help the captain, if you will just let me get them,” SungGyu explained to the man in charge.  
  
The gray headed man shook his head. “No, I am sure there are other things in there, too. We can’t risk it.”  
  
The man in charge told the men around him, “Load them up. We will lock them up in the jail. Hangeng can do what he wishes with them.”  
  
*******************************  
  
“Here’s to hoping there aren’t giant sharks in this ocean,” Kangin told the other two men as he looked out on the still ocean. Kangin, Siwon, and Sungmin’s pods had safely landed in the ocean and the magnetism devices in the pods had gone to work immediately pulling the three pods together.  
  
Sungmin, who was busy studying his tricorder, answered, “It just shows small aquatic life near us at the moment. There is a small grouping of islands 84 kilometers from us. It does not appear to be inhabited.”  
  
“Still no sign of the other three pods?” Siwon asked.  
  
Sungmin looked up from his tricorder, frowning. “They are over 8000 kilometers away from us.”  
  
Kangin reached over the side of the pod and ran his hands through the water. “Can you tell if they came down on land?”  
  
“There is a high probability that happened. The tricorder can’t pinpoint exactly where they are but it’s in the middle of a continent. The systems on the shuttle were going haywire and the atmosphere was so unstable,” Sungmin answered, continued to check the tricorder. “We are lucky we all didn’t end up on land.”  
  
“How dangerous is it to crash on the land?” Siwon asked Sungmin.  
  
“In theory the pod is supposed to withstand any kind of landing, but landing on rough ground is always problematic. It greatly increases your risk of injury. The pods are programmed to find water to land in if at all possible. It’s just safer.”  
  
“So, do you know what went wrong?” Siwon asked, remembering the last minutes on the shuttle when everything had gone haywire.  
  
“There was massive surge of energy…I hope the ship is okay,” Kangin told them. “Yunho will be fine, but it does worry me that he won’t answer our hails.”  
  
“Me too,” Sungmin agreed as he hit his insignia again trying to contact the captain.  
  
Siwon smiled at Kangin trying to lighten the mood and stated, “Perhaps we should avoid shuttle crafts from now on. It does not appear that we have great luck with them.”  
  
Kangin snorted, remembering back. “You have a good point. I also couldn’t help remembering back to the last time the three of us went swimming together.”  
  
Sungmin looked up from his tricorder and frowned at Kangin. “I was drowning. I hardly call that swimming. If I recall—”  
  
All three of their insignias chirped and they instantly tapped them. Voices could soon be heard, along with the voice of Ensign SungGyu. They listened intently till the voices faded away as the men went to the other damaged pod.  
  
“Fuck,” was all Kangin could say.  
  
Sungmin let out a sigh and explained, “If Ensign SungGyu is doing all the talking then we can assume the captain is in the damaged pod.”  
  
“What about Junsu?” Siwon asked.  
  
“Junsu wouldn’t be doing the talking. Junsu is the higher ranking ensign, but he is a pilot; he never took command courses at the academy.”  
  
“That Gyu boy is Yunho’s pet project. I have heard him and Yoochun fight often enough over him,” Kangin added.  
  
“True,” Sungmin agreed. “But he’s young. He was just a cadet when he got trapped on the ship.”  
  
“He got them to take him to the captain though. Let’s hope Yunho’s faith isn’t misplaced,” Kangin told Sungmin.  
  
Sungmin let out a small uneasy sigh. “He’s never even been on an away mission before.”  
  
“Well then, let’s all hope he gets the pod open and Yunho emerges and takes charge,” Siwon, always the optimistic diplomat, told them.  
  
“Let’s hope,” Sungmin agreed.  
  
***********************  
  
Kyuhyun and Ryeowook lifted an unresponsive Jaejoong onto an exam table in sickbay. Ryeowook looked up at the sensors that were meaningless when it came to his Joong friend. Ryeowook turned to face Kyuhyun and asked, “Do you really think the captain is dead?”  
  
“It depends; how long does it take a Joong to die when their mate dies?”  
  
“I don’t know for sure…I just always assumed it happened instantly.”  
  
Kyuhyun looked around the room of flashing red lights, and told Ryeowook in a firm voice, “I have to get to the bridge. Something major has happened. It could still be happening for all I know. I need to be in charge so Commander Yoochun can be in Engineering.”  
  
Ryeowook looked up and met Kyuhyun’s eyes, swallowed back his fears, and spoke to the computer, “Computer, this is Cho Ryeowook, Chief Medical Officer of the USS Expectations. I hereby reinstate Commander Cho Kyuhyun to all his former duties.”  
  
The red alerts paused long enough for the computer to announce ship wide, “Acknowledged. Commander Cho Kyuhyun has been reinstated as the second in command of the USS Expectations per order of Cho Ryeowook, Chief Medical Officer of the USS Expectations.”  
  
Kyuhyun gave Ryeowook a quick look of gratitude and hurried from sickbay.  
  
“What the hell is going on? How is a girl supposed to get any beauty sleep with all this blasted racket?” Heechul demanded, storming into sickbay.  
  
“Heechul, now is not the time,” Ryeowook scolded as he tried to wake Jaejoong again.  
  
Heechul walked up to the exam bed and asked, “What happened to him, her, or is it both these days? I can’t keep track.”  
  
“Changmin thinks…thinks the captain is injured.”  
  
Heechul looked at Ryeowook with sharp eyes. “Injured? Jaejoong can’t heal Yunho from here.”  
  
“No, he can’t. Is there any chance you can snap back into your former brilliant self?”  
  
Heechul reached for Jaejoong’s wrist and felt for his pulse, and told Ryeowook, “I’m always brilliant, but the doctor is still out.”  
  
“Maybe Yunho is—”  
  
“Doctor, we need you,” Ensign Yang yelled, entering sickbay holding up Ensign Henry. “His leg is broken and Commander Yoochun badly needs him in engineering.”  
  
Ryeowook rushed to Ensign Henry and helped Ensign Yang to get him on an exam bed. “Ensigns, do you know what happened?”  
  
With gritted teeth Ensign Henry answered, “It was like a giant wave of energy…we didn’t have any warning. We barely got the shields up in time. The warp core is so unstable now, I don’t know if we are going to be able to save it. We might have to jettison it.”  
  
“Jettison the warp,” Ryeowook said nervously as he ran a scanner over Henry’s broken leg. Ryeowook was no engineer, but everybody knew that if the warp core was lost then they would lose their ability to travel at warp speed. “Then we better hurry and get you back to Engineering.”  
  
“Yes, sir,” Henry agreed as Ryeowook quickly took care of his leg.  
  
“All done,” Ryeowook told Henry, patting his leg. “Get back to work, Ensign.”  
  
Henry jumped up from the table and hurried toward the door with Ensign Yang. “Thank you, Dr. Cho,” he hollered on his way out.  
  
Changmin almost collided with the ensigns when he rushed into sickbay with Sulli close behind him. “Is he alive, Doctor?”  
  
“Yes, but he’s in some kind of trance,” Ryeowook answered as he headed with Changmin and Sulli toward Jaejoong.  
  
Changmin reached down and grabbed a hold of Jaejoong’s hand. “Yunho must be alive then. It was my understanding that one can not live without the other.”  
  
“That was also my understanding.”  
  
Heechul, who had his eyes glued to where Changmin held Jaejoong’s hand, reached up and covered his heart, and declared, “It’s all so moving.”  
  
Changmin quickly explained, “A child can strengthen its parent’s bond.”  
  
“I didn’t know that,” Ryeowook told Changmin.  
  
Changmin explained, “I once suffered from epistaxis. Jaejoong healed me and afterwards he explained healing bonds between Joongs. If Jaejoong is keeping Yunho alive from even this great distance, then I will help if I can.”  
  
From Changmin’s side, Sulli said encouragingly, “I am sure you are helping them.”  
  
“I am not so certain. Jaejoong was not even certain if I would be able to heal others, due to the fact that I am a hybrid. He hypothesized that it would be easier for me than healing myself, but we never tested the theory.”  
  
“But you are just lending them your strength,” Ryeowook said hopefully as the ship was rocked again with another wave of energy. This time the inertia dampers held, and they all remained standing.  
  
“Do you notice any change in him?” Changmin asked.  
  
“No,” Ryeowook had to reluctantly admit. “I don’t, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t helping.”  
  
“It would be illogical—” his insignia going off interrupted Changmin. He reached up and tapped it.  
  
“Changmin, I need you on the bridge now,” came Kyuhyun’s voice.  
  
“Understood,” Changmin answered.  
  
Ryeowook sighed, knowing the ship must always come first. With a great sadness he nodded his head as he watched Changmin regretfully let go of Jaejoong’s hand and make his way toward the bridge.  
  
Sulli watched with tears in her eyes as Changmin left sickbay and returned to duty. She took Jaejoong’s discarded hand, knowing she could not help him or Yunho, but wishing for Changmin’s sake she could. She squeezed Jaejoong’s hand tighter as she listened to Dr. Cho speak to the ship’s computer and reinstate Changmin to full duty.  
  
*******************************  
  
  
Junsu watched SungGyu pace the cell they were in. The men who had captured them had thrown them in a jail that looked like it was straight out of the old west. They had learned they were in a small town called Coppin in the western hemisphere. Junsu sat on the floor with the captain’s head in his lap. The captain was breathing on his own again, but it remained shallow and irregular. Junsu had taken off his own jacket earlier and pressed it against the wound in the captain’s chest that still oozed blood.  
  
Junsu had focused on taking care of the captain while SungGyu had taken on their captors. Once they had gotten to Coppin the gray haired man had lost control of them, and the mayor of the town had taken over. The mayor had refused at first to allow a doctor to see Yunho, but SungGyu had persisted with his demands that Yunho be treated, and finally the mayor had relented.  
  
“He is continuing to breathe on his own,” Junsu told the pacing younger man.  
  
SungGyu stopped and turned to face Junsu. “The bleeding?”  
  
“Still bleeding some, but—”  
  
“He can’t have that much blood left,” SungGyu finished for the older ensign.  
  
“No,” Junsu admitted as he looked down at the captain sadly.  
  
“Where is that doctor?” SungGyu yelled loudly for the people in the other room to hear.  
  
“Do you think they are really going to get us a doctor?”  
  
SungGyu nodded his head. “I think I have convinced them that Commander Yoochun will blow them all to hell if they allow the captain to die.”  
  
Junsu frowned. “You don’t think he would, really, do you?”  
  
“Depends on his mood,” SungGyu told Junsu, eyeing the doorway, hoping that somebody was eavesdropping on them. “If that energy wave that destroyed the shuttle affected the ship’s engines, then he will be out for blood. You know he can’t tolerate the slightest drop in efficiency”  
  
“Plus he will be pissed if he doesn’t get to pinch my ass again,” Junsu said, making himself smile.  
  
SungGyu nodded his head, unable to hide his own smile, and agreed loudly, “That will really piss him off. This poor planet doesn’t stand a chance in hell. Too bad two billion people have to die due to the actions of a few inbred idiots.”  
  
“Shut the fuck up,” the man they knew as Cob yelled as he walked in. “Against my advice the mayor said he will allow a doctor to see your damn captain. Greasy is on his way.”  
  
“Well, he needs to hurry,” SungGyu informed the stringy haired blond man.  
  
Cob glared at the young ensign, still angry that he had been knocked down in front of his friends so easily. “He’s busy treating the pox; it’d be a damn shame if he infected all of you.”  
  
“We will take our chances.”  
  
Cob just smirked and walked out.  
  
SungGyu went to back of the cell where Junsu was sitting and looked out the small window that was above Junsu’s head. The window was much too small for either of them to fit through. SungGyu looked out for a moment at the lively town that appeared similar to early 1900’s Earth. He knew other parts of the planet were more evolved, but this small town was still using very primitive forms of the automotive type for their main source of transportation. “A doctor named Greasy; doesn’t that just sound ominous?”  
  
Junsu watched as SungGyu winced as he sat down beside him. “Maybe he will look at your back, too.”  
  
“I’m fine.”  
  
“I think Cob is starting to like you,” Junsu joked with a smile. “He didn’t even threaten to string you up this time.”  
  
SungGyu smiled back at the older ensign. “I knew I would eventually grow on him.”  
  
“It’s all the sweet endearments you heap on him.”  
  
“I always was a sweet talker.”  
  
Junsu’s smile faded as he looked down at the captain. “I should just stop going on away missions.”  
  
SungGyu arched an eyebrow. “Why do you say that?”  
  
“I have bad luck on away missions. Giant bears, vampires, brain damage…although I did luck out and miss the gender switch.”  
  
“At least you have that going for you.”  
  
“I don’t think I would make a good girl.”  
  
“You would still be a great pilot.”  
  
Junsu groaned. “How can you say that when the shuttle was completely destroyed?”  
  
SungGyu, who was now studying the captain’s shallow breathing, told Junsu, “If anybody else had been flying that shuttle, we would all be dead now. You gave us the needed time to make it to the escape pods.”  
  
Junsu couldn’t help but smile a little. “Thanks.”  
  
“No, thank you. I intend on getting off this planet and living a long life. If it were…” SungGyu paused as he heard a new voice in the outer room. “I think the doctor is here.”  
  
“I pray he is good.”  
  
SungGyu stood up gingerly, and agreed, “So do I.”  
  
A young man walked into the room, grinned at both of them after overhearing their exchange, and informed them, “Don’t worry, I’m good. Some would even say great.”  
  
SungGyu looked at the disheveled, dark haired younger man who looked like he hadn’t shaven or slept in a week. His clothes were oversized and hanging off of him, and he reeked of alcohol. “You’ve got to be kidding.”  
  
Cob and the two other men that were following behind the young doctor just started laughing as they lifted their guns and aimed them at the Star Fleet officers as they opened the jail cell for the doctor to enter.  
  
SungGyu watched dumbfounded as the doctor who reeked of alcohol entered the cell with his medical bag and immediately went toward the captain.  
  
“Greasy, holler when you are done,” Cob said with a chuckle, loving the appalled look on SungGyu’s face. Cob closed the cell door and locked it, and then he and the other men left the room shutting the door behind them.  
  
“I can’t allow you to treat him,” SungGyu declared as the doctor pulled out a stethoscope and started listening to Yunho’s chest.  
  
Junsu blinked as the strong alcohol fumes hit him as the doctor listened to the captain’s breathing. “Are you intoxicated?”  
  
“Or did you just take a bath in it?” SungGyu snapped, highly irritated.  
  
The young man called Greasy pulled the stethoscope off and stood up to face SungGyu. “Actually, I did. I have been treating people with the pox for almost a month now. It’s highly contagious, so yes I did bathe in alcohol. It’s the closest thing I could get to a sterile bath. These clothes don’t belong to me either; all my clothes are covered with pox germs.”  
  
“Oh,” was all SungGyu could manage to get out as small, dark eyes cut into him.  
  
“Are you done now?” the young doctor asked.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
The doctor turned around, bent back down and started going through his bag. “Now that the interrogation is over, I can get to work. This man is severely injured.”  
  
“Sorry,” SungGyu mumbled as he watched the doctor start an IV on the captain and give him an injection. He then watched the young doctor pull out a bottle of alcohol and a massive needle from his bag.  
  
Junsu watched as the doctor removed his jacket from the captain’s wound and poured alcohol all over the captain’s chest. “What’s wrong with him?”  
  
“He has major chest trauma; several broken ribs, and a pneumothorax because of it. I’m not going to lie to you, it isn’t good. I don’t have the proper equipment with me. He needs to be in a hospital but that isn’t going to happen. So we are just going to do what we can to save him,” the doctor told Junsu.  
  
“What can we do to help?” SungGyu asked.  
  
The doctor pulled a bandage from his bag and covered the captain’s chest wound. The doctor then instructed Junsu, “Hold it in place.”  
  
Junsu quickly did as he was told.  
  
The doctor looked up at SungGyu and told him, “I don’t think he will move, but just in case, hold him still. I’m amazed he’s still alive.”  
  
“He’s bonded to a Joong,” Junsu explained as he held pressure on the captain’s wound.  
  
“I know; your captain is a very famous man. He recently had a fun time on Valmont, I heard.”  
  
SungGyu knelt down to hold on to the captain. “Too famous it seems.”  
  
“He’s a good man, and he doesn’t deserve to die in this backwards hick town,” the doctor told them as he pushed the needle into Yunho’s chest.  
  
Junsu grimaced as he watched the needle being pushed in. They waited patiently as the captain’s breathing slowly improved.  
  
“Will he wake up now?” Junsu asked.  
  
The doctor shook his head as he taped the needle in place, and connected a valve to it. “I doubt it. He’s lost a lot of blood. Do you two know what blood type he is?”  
  
“I think he is A,” Junsu answered.  
  
“I also have A type blood; he can have all my blood that he needs,” SungGyu offered.  
  
“It doesn’t matter right now; they won’t give me that much time with him. He sure would benefit from a transfusion though, but I doubt it would save him. He’s needs his Joong mate. Their connection is probably all that is keeping him alive; I am just trying to help in any way I can,” the doctor explained as he removed the bandage from the captain’s chest and started stitching him up.  
  
SungGyu, who was still kneeling down beside the captain, told the doctor, “I am very sorry about earlier. We are really grateful for your help.”  
  
“Yes, we are,” Junsu quickly confirmed.  
  
The doctor who was finishing stitching the captain’s wound, told them, “You are welcome. I know how this town can be. I know your captain is a good man, and I want to do whatever I can to help him.”  
  
SungGyu studied the doctor intently and asked, “Are you not from here?”  
  
“I was, but I left a long time ago,” the doctor explained as he placed a new pressure bandage over the captain’s wound.  
  
Junsu looked up from the captain to face the doctor, “But you are not very old.”  
  
“No, but even as I child I wanted to leave this town. Luckily for me, I showed an aptitude for healing, and I had the intelligence to get sent to a large city for my education. I left here when I was ten.”  
  
“So you were back visiting?” SungGyu asked as a plan started taking form in his mind.  
  
The doctor nodded his head. “I don’t visit often, but my mother had contacted me telling me of the pox outbreak, and asked for my help. I happened to be on the planet at the time and my guilt got the best of me…nobody can guilt you like your own mother. I haven’t been back here in three years.”  
  
“On the planet?” SungGyu repeated.  
  
The doctor smiled at the young ensign and explained, “I am a traveling doctor. Hangeng paid for my education and sometimes I get sent to other Hangeng ruled worlds when I am needed.”  
  
“You are not loyal to him like the others though?” SungGyu questioned, noticing how the doctor left off the ‘Lord’ on Hangeng’s name and didn’t say his name like he was a deity.  
  
The young doctor looked at SungGyu uneasily and whispered, “I think he is by far the kindest of the warlords…but he’s still a dictator. I can not in good conscience allow you three to die just because it might make things easier on him.”  
  
“Then you will help us?” SungGyu asked.  
  
“I think I just did,” the doctor reminded him.  
  
“Doctor…Greasy, no, I mean will you help us to escape from here?”  
  
“Please don’t call me that; that’s an old nickname my stepfather gave me. I hate it,” the doctor explained, not answering SungGyu’s question.  
  
“I will call you whatever you want to be called as long as you help us get out of here,” SungGyu promised.  
  
“WooHyun is my name. Where could you go if I did help you escape? Where could you possibly go on this planet?”  
  
“I’d like to know that, too,” Junsu questioned.  
  
“We need to get back to where we crashed,” SungGyu whispered. “The ship will be searching for us and without our insignias it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”  
  
“But they moved our pods. You saw them load them up. No doubt they are guarding them,” Junsu reminded the younger ensign.  
  
SungGyu lowered his head and said softly, “I slipped the captain’s insignia off of him when we were getting him out of the pod, and I dropped it on the ground. They didn’t notice.”  
  
“You did that?” Junsu asked amazed. “I didn’t even notice.”  
  
“The captain had all of your attention and theirs, too,” SungGyu explained. “We have to get back there. I am still not sure they will keep us alive. If that asshole Cob gets his way they will hang us and offer our bodies to their precious Lord Hangeng as a present.”  
  
“True, he is the worst of them,” the doctor agreed.  
  
SungGyu looked back at the doctor and asked, “If you help us, we will drop you off wherever you want. I don’t think it would be safe for you to stay here.”  
  
“That asshole Cob is my stepfather, so I have no problem with not coming back to this town. My mother will just have to understand,” WooHyun explained as he finished with the captain.  
  
SungGyu promised, “We do repay our debts.”  
  
“We have to make it to the ship first,” Junsu added, and looked at SungGyu questioningly, “How do you plan on getting us out of here? What is the escape plan?”  
  
“We are going—”  
  
WooHyun stood and said with a grin. “Leave that up to me.”  
  
SungGyu stood quickly, ignoring his back pain. “No, I have a plan.”  
  
“Not as good as mine.”  
  
“No, really; we have to be very careful,” SungGyu stated, alarmed.  
  
WooHyun reached over, patting SungGyu on the cheek like he would a small child and confidently told him, “I’ll take care of it.”  
  
“No, at least let us compare plans—”  
  
“You are too young to be so uptight,” WooHyun told SungGyu as he walked toward the door of the jail cell.  
  
“I am not uptight, I am cautious. We can’t afford to make any mistakes.”  
  
“I know that; your captain doesn’t have much more time left. I bought him some, but he needs a blood transfusion and he needs a proper chest tube if we are going to buy him some more time till his Joong arrives,” WooHyun explained as he rattled the bars to the jail cell and yelled, “I am done in here for now.”  
  
WooHyun turned around, noticing the look of dread on SungGyu’s face and grinned. “Don’t look so worried. I hate my nickname but I come by it honestly. I can be really slick when I need to be.”  
  
Before SungGyu could reply two armed men entered the room to let the doctor out.  
  
Junsu watched as the doctor left and the other ensign turned around to face him, hiding none of his trepidation. Junsu groaned, looking down at the captain, “We are going to need a lot of luck.”  
  
SungGyu leaned against the wall. “A freaking miracle is more like it.”  
  
*************************  
  
“How the fuck does astrophysics miss that three stars are about to go supernova?” Commander Yoochun demanded as Commander Cho followed the fuming Chief Engineer through engineering inspecting the damage.  
  
Commander Cho explained, “They said there wasn’t any warning.”  
  
“Like hell there wasn’t! Stars do not just go supernova without a warning. There is like millions of year’s worth of warnings!”  
  
“Well, apparently there wasn’t this time.”  
  
Commander Yoochun turned around glaring. “Do you know who I really blame for this?”  
  
Commander Cho frowned. “It isn’t anybody’s fault.”  
  
“It’s your damn husband’s fault!”  
  
“How is it his fault?” Commander Cho asked in dismay.  
  
“In order to justify not letting you return to duty, he kept Changmin off the bridge and locked away in his labs doing minor shit. If Changmin had been on the bridge this wouldn’t have happened,” Yoochun spit out hatefully as he pulled up a screen and scanned the readings.  
  
“Minho is—”  
  
“Isn’t Changmin!” Yoochun snapped, interrupting Kyuhyun.  
  
“So first it was astrophysics fault, then it was Ryeowook’s fault, and now it is Ensign Choi’s fault. Is there anybody you don’t want to blame, Commander?” Kyuhyun snapped back at Yoochun harshly.  
  
“Commander—”  
  
“No,” Commander Cho said, stopping Yoochun. “You listen to me. This isn’t time for the blame game. I need facts from you, not one of your mood swings. How bad off are we?”  
  
Commander Yoochun let out a breath, and answered, “Bad, but better than we were. The warp core is stabilized for now, but our dilithium supply is dangerously low. I should have the engines back up in a couple hours.”  
  
Kyuhyun let out a sigh of relief. “So we are not going to blow up…that’s good.”  
  
“That’s always a plus,” Yoochun agreed. “What about getting down to the planet?”  
  
“The atmosphere is too unstable even for a shuttle now, and it isn’t letting any signals pass through it either.”  
  
“The planet wasn’t damaged though, was it?” Yoochun asked, unable to hide his worry.  
  
Kyuhyun shook his head. “Changmin said the planet most likely only suffered from massive blackouts, but it shouldn’t have any permanent damage.”  
  
“So Yunho and the others could still be alive?”  
  
“I don’t know. Changmin doesn’t even know,” Kyuhyun answered honestly. “We are going to have to find a way down there…to know for sure.”  
  
Yoochun paled and told Kyuhyun, “Our goal needs to be to get to Trysor. We have to replenish our dilithium supplies.”  
  
“And leave the away team here to die?”  
  
“No,” Yoochun answered quickly. “Yunho has been my friend since I was fourteen years old and Kangin too. I am not eager to leave them behind…or the others, especially Ensign Junsu; but without dilithium we are dead in space.”  
  
“I know,” Kyuhyun admitted. Kyuhyun’s insignia chirped and Kyuhyun hit it.  
  
“Jaejoong has awakened,” Ryeowook announced.  
  
“I’m on my way,” Kyuhyun answered, heading toward the lift. Kyuhyun was surprised to find Yoochun following him. “You are leaving engineering at a time like this?”  
  
“We are about to find out if Yunho is alive…for that I will leave engineering.”  
  
The two men headed toward sickbay without a word between them until they reached the sickbay entrance, where Kyuhyun held out his hand stopping Yoochun. “Not one word out of your mouth about blame, do you hear me? That’s an order.”  
  
Yoochun fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes, Sir.”  
  
They entered sickbay and made their way to the exam bed that held Jaejoong. Ryeowook and Sulli were each on one side of Jaejoong. Sulli was still holding the Joong’s hand. Jaejoong’s eyes were open but he just stared up at the ceiling, not saying a word. “Has he spoken?” Kyuhyun asked as he came to stand beside Ryeowook.  
  
“No,” Ryeowook answered with a shake of his head. “Changmin is on his way. I’m hoping he can speak with him telepathically.”  
  
“That’s a good idea,” Yoochun told the doctor. “He isn’t pregnant, is he?”  
  
“No,” Ryeowook answered.  
  
“Then that is good? Right?” Yoochun asked.  
  
“He wouldn’t say so,” Ryeowook answered, remembering the shifting Joong’s desire to become pregnant.  
  
“But Changmin exists still…if Yunho and Jaejoong die here, then how can Changmin exist? So, this is good news,” Yoochun clarified for them.  
  
“Your logic fails to take into account that time isn’t a fixed point,” Changmin replied as he entered sickbay. “The Joong race would not fear the misuse of the Guardian of Time if time was a forever fixed point. No, it is constantly changing.”  
  
Yoochun watched as Changmin walked up next to Sulli and took Jaejoong’s hand from her. “I prefer to think of it as forever fixed.”  
  
Changmin ignored Yoochun and said gently, “Jaejoong, can you hear me?”  
  
Jaejoong closed his eyes but made no attempt to answer Changmin. Changmin frowned and asked telepathically,  _“Jaejoong, are you there?”_  
  
 _“Not Mom?”  
  
“I thought since we were in a very dire situation I would be respectful.”_  
  
Jaejoong gasped and turned his head.  _“Yunho…he’s…he’s so hurt.”_  
  
 _“But not dead?”  
  
“No, the moment he dies I will also die…our lives are forever linked.”  
  
“How badly is he injured?”_  
  
 _“His life ticks away with every beat of his heart, and I can’t continue to sustain him from this distance...that he is even alive is a testament to the power of our bond.”  
  
“How can I help?”  
  
“You must bring me to him.”_  
  
 _“I can not do that. It is impossible at the moment.”  
  
“Then you must make it possible.”  
  
“Are you not able to take strength from me?”_  
  
 _“Some but not enough…our bond is only that of humans. We do not have the birth parent/child bond, but even it would not be enough for long. Yunho is the one that must be healed.”  
  
“Then I must focus on breaking through the atmosphere of this planet.”  
  
“Hurry…there was an improvement in Yunho, but it is fading away. You must…hurry…”_  
  
 _“Jaejoong, can you tell if the others are alive?”  
  
“No…hurry…just hurry…”_ Jaejoong begged before their telepathic connection was broken.  
  
Changmin looked up and met Commander Cho’s questioning gaze. “Yunho is alive, but not for long if we don’t break through the atmosphere.”  
  
“Do you have any ideas how to do that?” Commander Cho asked.  
  
Changmin motioned for Sulli to take Jaejoong’s hand from him and told Kyuhyun with absolute determination, “No, but I will find a way.”


	3. Chapter 3

“What the shit is this stuff?” Kangin complained as he walked out of the water, covered in a green slimy substance. The three of them had reached land, and had already finished unloading the pods. The pods were each stocked with food rations, a tricorder, a med kit, a phaser, and other survival necessities.  
  
“Luckily, it isn’t shit,” Sungmin replied, still in the water as he secured the pods to a rock.  
  
Siwon, who was also covered in the green slime along with Kangin and Sungmin, attempted to wipe the substance off his arms unsuccessfully as he emerged from the sea. He tried his best to sound optimistic, “That is always a plus.”  
  
“How do we know it isn’t giant whale shit?” Kangin fussed. On the trip to the island the tricorder had picked up readings of several extremely large mammals swimming below them in the ocean depths.  
  
Sungmin groaned. “It isn’t whale shit. It’s like seaweed…just a lot nastier.”  
  
Kangin plopped down on the sand and looked out at the ocean. “You know what really is a plus?”  
  
Siwon looked down at Kangin and asked, “What?”  
  
“The pods have propulsion units in them so we didn’t have to row our way here.”  
  
“And we have food rations, so we aren’t going to starve,” Sungmin added.  
  
Siwon looked inwardly toward the island. “And didn’t the tricorder confirm there is fresh water on the island?”  
  
“Yes,” Sungmin confirmed as he left the water with the tricorder hanging around his neck.  
  
“So what do we do now?” Kangin asked the lieutenant.  
  
Sungmin placed his hands on his hips and surveyed his surroundings. They were on an island ninety-six kilometers in diameter. The beach was mixture of sand and rocks. The sea water around the beach was filled with a green, slimy substance. Behind them was a thick grouping of trees and bushes. Sungmin admitted, “There isn’t much we can do. This is just a little grouping of uninhabited islands in a big ocean. The nearest continent is over 4000 kilometers away. Even with the pods it would take us weeks to reach one, and frankly it would be too dangerous. I think the best thing we can do now is wait.”  
  
Kangin plopped backwards on the sand and looked up at the sky. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”  
  
Siwon, who was still trying to rid himself of the green slimy substance covering him, announced, “I think I will go search for the fresh water. Hopefully it will be clean, and we can wash this off.”  
  
Kangin, who had spent a lot of time stranded with Siwon, snorted and told him, “Always the cleanly prince.”  
  
“I attempt to be,” Siwon told him and he looked to Sungmin questioningly.  
  
Sungmin shrugged and told Siwon, “I will go with you. Grab a med kit just in case.” Sungmin then turned to Kangin and advised, “Keep your phaser ready. The tricorder did pick up on some big animals on this island.”  
  
Kangin patted his phaser that was attached to his side. “I got it handy and ready to go. I wouldn’t leave home without her.”  
  
“Good,” Sungmin said, looking down at his tricorder and back up to Siwon who was fastening a med kit around his waist. “Although we have a water replicator with us, some fresh water to bathe in would be nice. Follow me.”  
  
Siwon followed Sungmin as he led him through the jungle-like vegetation toward the fresh water. “Even as a child, I detested being dirty,” Siwon confessed.  
  
“Nothing wrong with that.”  
  
“So I find this green slime most uncomfortable.”  
  
“In the academy they try to prepare us for anything, so it doesn’t really bother me that much. You of, course never went through the actual academy.”  
  
“No, just the academic courses I have taken on board the ship.”  
  
Sungmin smiled as he pushed a branch out of his way. “Maybe I could talk to the captain about opening up the holodecks for some actual academy training simulations. I think you, Shindong, Sulli, and even Jaejoong could benefit from them.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“It’s an idea. Jaejoong will probably balk at the idea, and Shindong will gripe, but it’s an idea worth entertaining.”  
  
“I would be interested in the program, especially considering the recent events.”  
  
Sungmin reached the clearing, and sighed in relief as they came upon a clear pool of water. “Perfectly clean water; the tricorder is not picking up anything dangerous.”  
  
Siwon immediately pulled his shirt off. “Blessed water.”  
  
Sungmin swallowed uncomfortably as he watched Siwon undress. Siwon’s pants soon followed his shirt and the man stepped into the cool water completely naked. Sungmin was painfully aware that his relationship with Siwon had not progressed further than some heated kisses that had left him in desperate need of more.  
  
“Enjoying the view?” Siwon asked as he looked up to catch Sungmin staring at him.  
  
Sungmin blushed slightly but he did not take his eyes off the beautiful, nude man in front of him. “Indeed I am. You have a spectacular body, as if it was sculpted to perfection by the gods themselves.”  
  
Siwon walked farther out into the water until he was waist deep. “Thank you, but perhaps it is not an opportune time for you to be admiring my body.”  
  
Sungmin frowned. “No, I suppose not.”  
  
Siwon looked up after catching a hint of something unpleasant in Sungmin’s voice. “Are you displeased?”  
  
“Yes,” Sungmin bluntly informed Siwon as he began to strip off his uniform. “We are stranded on an island unable to contact the captain. Yes, I am displeased. The situation is very displeasing.”  
  
Siwon began to wash the slime from his body, avoiding watching Sungmin undress. “And are you also displeased with the progression of our relationship?”  
  
“What progression? When I am dressed as a woman or in the body of a woman, you can’t keep your hands off of me; but the minute you are reminded that I actually have a dick you can’t preach the virtues of taking it slow fast enough,” Sungmin said, setting the phaser and tricorder down on the ground much more gently than he had his uniform.  
  
“This is why I cautioned you at the beginning…why I insisted we must take it slow. My heterosexuality was never in doubt before,” Siwon told Sungmin as he finished cleaning himself. Siwon forced himself to look up at the man, who had kept his underpants on, much to Siwon’s relief. “You are the exception, not the rule. The fact that you and I are both men is unsettling to me at times.”  
  
Sungmin entered the water, calmer now. “I know you have trouble with it. I really don’t mind dressing as a woman if it makes you feel more at ease. I am comfortable enough with my own sexuality to not mind. I colored my hair blond, because I thought you found it attractive.”  
  
“I do,” Siwon quickly verified. “It is very pleasing.”  
  
Sungmin smiled at Siwon as he met him in the water, and reached up a hand to trace Siwon’s abs with a fingertip. “I like sex. I like it a lot. I am willing to do whatever I need to do to make you comfortable enough to be intimate with me.”  
  
“That is very reassuring, but I can not help but worry for yo…” Siwon trailed off as Sungmin replaced his fingertip with his tongue. Siwon stood speechless as Sungmin mapped out every part of his firm, muscular stomach with his tongue and then slid up his chest to lick around a pert nipple before pulling away.  
  
Sungmin looked up at the taller man. “What were you saying?”  
  
“I honestly do not remember.”  
  
“Do you mind if I continue?”  
  
Siwon quickly shook his head. “No, no…not at all.”  
  
“Good, because I want to taste you all over,” Sungmin said huskily, licking his lips, causing Siwon to let out a small moan.  
  
  
***********************  
  
“I knew this wouldn’t work,” SungGyu grumbled as he paced in front of Junsu. The doctor had left them hours ago, and had failed to return. “I mean I’m not a doctor, but I thought he might have figured out we are in a time crunch here.”  
  
Junsu looked up at the pacing man, and reminded him, “He did seem sincere.”  
  
“Sincerity doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t act on it,” SungGyu complained as he walked back to the small window and looked out.  
  
“Are they still acting crazy out there?” Junsu asked from the floor where he held the captain’s head in his lap. For the past hour the townsfolk had been rushing around outside like doomsday was upon them.  
  
“I don’t actually see anybody out there now,” SungGyu informed Junsu as he looked suspiciously out the small window.  
  
Junsu leaned his head back and moaned, “With my luck, a meteor is about to hit the town.”  
  
“Or the bastards sold us out to ZhouMi.”  
  
Junsu lifted his head quickly and gasped, “Do you think that is a possibility?”  
  
“No,” SungGyu answered, shaking his head. “If the Expectations can’t get to us, he can’t either. I doubt any ship can enter the planet’s atmosphere right now.”  
  
“Maybe they know a trick that we don’t know about.”  
  
“I doubt it. Whatever threw the shuttle into a tailspin…had to be massive. I just hope the Expectations is okay.”  
  
“Me too.”  
  
SungGyu turned away from the window and added, “While I am wishing. I also wish for a phaser and for that greasy doctor to keep his word.”  
  
“Well, I wish that the ship would just beam us back up,” Junsu told SungGyu, looking down at the captain. “But I wish more than anything that Jaejoong would appear and make the captain all better.”  
  
SungGyu looked down at the captain sadly. “I do, too.”  
  
The door to the room leading to the jail cell swung open, and a very sickly appearing WooHyun entered with the keys.  
  
“About damn time,” SungGyu started to bitch, but stopped as he took in the young doctor’s appearance. The doctor had huge blisters covering his face and arms.  
  
“Oh…My…God,” Junsu exclaimed. “Is that the pox?”  
  
“It looks awful, doesn’t it,” WooHyun replied as he stood outside the jail, fingering a blister on his face.  
  
“How contagious is that?” SungGyu asked, alarmed.  
  
“The pox?” WooHyun asked with an evil glint in his eyes. “It’s very contagious.”  
  
SungGyu’s eyes widened. “Very?”  
  
“Very,” WooHyun agreed, tapping his cheek with his finger.  
  
SungGyu took a deep breath and said in the most determined voice he could muster, “It’s a chance we have to take. Open the door.”  
  
WooHyun continued to tap his cheek. “First you have to pay the price.”  
  
“What price?”  
  
“You have to kiss me.”  
  
SungGyu took a step back, sneering. “I don’t think so. Does the pox also affect your mentality? Because if you think I am going to kiss you, you must be crazy.”  
  
“I’m not crazy; if you want me to risk my life by helping you…you are going to have to prove you trust me,” WooHyun informed him.  
  
“By kissing you? You just told me you have a contagious disease.”  
  
“I am not opening this door until you kiss me. You have to prove you trust me. I am not going to get you out of here, just so you can dump me off whenever the first opportunity presents itself. I am burning all my bridges by helping you,” WooHyun informed the young officer as he folded his arms, determined that the ensign prove himself. “I will never be able to return to this planet or work for Hangeng again.”  
  
“This is insane! Kissing you on the cheek doesn’t prove anything. You are just going to have to take my word for it,” SungGyu insisted.  
  
“Nope, your word isn’t good enough.”  
  
“Just kiss him,” Junsu told SungGyu.  
  
SungGyu turned an accusing glare on the higher ranking ensign. “What if this is how they plan on killing us? I think I would rather be hung!”  
  
“If that is what you think,” WooHyun informed SungGyu, “then I will just leave. If you really believe that I can’t be trusted.”  
  
SungGyu looked back at WooHyun, who was covered in blisters, gritted his teeth and walked back to the jail door, reached through it and grabbed WooHyun by the arm, pulled him up the bars and kissed him forcibly on the lips.  
  
WooHyun broke away, shocked by the other man’s actions, and stumbled backwards.  
  
“Is that proof enough for you? Now get us out of here,” a highly irritated SungGyu ordered.  
  
WooHyun collected himself quickly and opened the jail cell door. “I’m happy to oblige. Your captain doesn’t have much time.”  
  
“So we are just going to walk out?” SungGyu asked as he approached the captain with WooHyun, while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “How is that possible?”  
  
“The town is under quarantine and all your jailers took off a while ago,” WooHyun explained as he gently held the captain’s head as Junsu slid out from under him. “There has been a massive pox outbreak, and it has the whole town in a panic.”  
  
“I thought there was already an outbreak?” SungGyu asked as they lifted the captain.  
  
“Just a few people, mostly children, were affected before…now the whole town is developing a horrible pox-like rash. The ones that aren’t hiding in their houses praying for a cure have all left town. It was a sudden outbreak, and it even put some people to sleep. It’s quite unusual.”  
  
As the three men carried the captain through the jail, SungGyu studied WooHyun closely and pointed out, “It’s highly convenient though…isn’t it?”  
  
WooHyun grinned back at him. “Highly.”  
  
“How did you do it?” SungGyu demanded, figuring out the doctor was responsible for the outbreak.  
  
“You did it?” Junsu asked in surprise as he pushed the door to the outside world open. “You infected the whole town with the pox?  
  
“No; not at all. I am a doctor after all,” WooHyun quickly objected. “It isn’t the actual pox virus at all, but it seems so much worse; when it is actually harmless. I just had to add some chemicals to the town’s water supply and to a few other establishments around town, and it wasn’t long before the whole town was in an uproar.”  
  
“I’m impressed,” SungGyu had to admit as they stepped outside into the broad daylight with not a person in sight.  
  
“Thanks,” WooHyun told them as he nudged them toward a primitive looking automotive vehicle he had prepared for them. “Do either of you think you can drive it?”  
  
SungGyu looked at Junsu and said confidently. “Ensign Junsu can drive anything.”  
  
“I don’t know about that, but I used to drive ancient race cars in the holodecks on earth. It was fun,” Junsu answered, eyeing the vehicle. “This isn’t exactly a race car,” Junsu added, looking at the black car that looked like an old Model-T from Earth’s ancient past.  
  
SungGyu led them toward the car. “I have total faith in you.”  
  
“Thanks,” Junsu replied as he and the doctor held the captain between them, as SungGyu opened the door to the car.  
  
“I will ride in the back with your captain,” WooHyun announced. “I will have to watch him closely. Drive as easily as you can manage.”  
  
“Okay, I will try my best,” Junsu answered as they placed Yunho into the back seat of the vehicle.  
  
WooHyun slid into the back of the car beside Yunho and told the two ensigns, “If we get to your insignia…thing and help doesn’t arrive, we are going to have to give him a blood transfusion. He won’t last long without one. I have packed the supplies I need.”  
  
SungGyu, who had gotten into the front seat next to Junsu turned around and asked, “Did you bring blood?”  
  
WooHyun looked up at SungGyu and explained, “You are my blood supply for him. Your friend said your captain was type A, and I am type B.”  
  
“I am type B, too,” Junsu added as he studied the dash in front of him, trying to make sense of the controls before he slowly turned the key to the car’s ignition.  
  
The car started and SungGyu told them, “I don’t mind being his blood supply.”  
  
WooHyun looked down at Yunho and mumbled, “Let’s just pray it works.”  
  
“If I remember correctly, we should go straight down this road for a couple of kilometers, and then there was a big blue metal building…turn right there and keep going straight,” SungGyu told Junsu.  
  
“That will take us out of town,” WooHyun confirmed.  
  
“I wasn’t even paying attention to where they were taking us,” Junsu admitted, frowning as he realized the younger ensign was far more on top of things.  
  
SungGyu reached over and patted Junsu on the arm and told him, “You didn’t know about the insignia. I knew we had to find our way back to it.”  
  
“That’s true,” Junsu had to admit. “You know, if this weren’t a life and death situation…it’d be kinda fun.”  
  
SungGyu, who was on the alert for anything, arched his eyebrows. “Just be on the look out. I wish I had a phaser.”  
  
“A phaser?” WooHyun asked from the backseat as he connected intravenous fluids to Yunho, and manually pushed them in.  
  
“It’s like a gun…you didn’t happen to bring a gun with you, did you?” SungGyu asked, hopefully.  
  
WooHyun frowned. “No, I did not. I save lives, I don’t end them. I have no use for guns.”  
  
“Well, that is all well and good for a doctor, but I’d still like to have one,” SungGyu snapped. “I mean, if I can’t have a phaser, a gun would be nice.”  
  
WooHyun informed SungGyu, “You know, I might not agree with the people of this town or like them very much, but I was raised with them and I’d rather not be responsible for killing any of them.”  
  
“If we had a phaser we wouldn’t have to kill them. We would just stun them. Star Fleet only kills at last resort,” Junsu explained.  
  
“I didn’t know that,” WooHyun admitted from the backseat. “Umm…I think I know where one of your phasers might be.”  
  
SungGyu flung his head around to face the doctor, making himself wince. “You do?”  
  
WooHyun nodded his head. “When the mayor summoned me, he had a silver-looking toy gun thing and he said it was from one of your flying machines. He was really upset that he couldn’t get it to work.”  
  
“He wouldn’t be able to, only a Star Fleet officer can activate it, and we never had the chance…where is it? We need it. You have to tell me where you saw it,” SungGyu insisted.  
  
“Like I said, the mayor had it. He was going to give it to Hangeng’s people when they arrived—”  
  
“When do they arrive?” Junsu asked alarmed.  
  
“I am not sure. They were contacted, but apparently the whole planet is suffering from electrical black outs and it has slowed everything down,” WooHyun explained.  
  
“If they were already on the planet it won’t take them long to get here. I am sure they have much more advanced technology than this town has,” SungGyu reasoned.  
  
“Yes, at Hangeng’s main estate there are all kinds of flying vehicles,” WooHyun agreed. “The blackout did slow them down though, the mayor said so as I was listening. I think all the advanced forms of transportation on this planet are still down. They were much more affected by the blackouts.”  
  
“They would have been,” SungGyu confirmed. “Where did you see the phaser last? Do you think it’s still there?”  
  
WooHyun grinned at SungGyu. “I am sure it is. I gave the mayor’s office a big dose of it, and I added some sleeping medication to their food and water. I wanted to cut the town off at it’s head.”  
  
A big smile spread across SungGyu’s face. “I’m starting to like you more and more.”  
  
“I grow on people,” WooHyun explained, grinning back at the ensign. “The mayor’s office is about a block down, in a big two story gray building.”  
  
“Okay, when we get there the doctor and I will go inside to retrieve the phaser. Junsu, you wait out here and if you see anything suspicious, just go. Our priority has to be saving the captain,” SungGyu quickly informed them. “If we get separated, just keep going. Once you get to the grove where our pods crashed, you will recognize it. We will do our best to meet up with you there. If we can’t contact the ship, hopefully we will be able to get in contact with Lieutenant Lee.”  
  
“Understood,” Junsu confirmed as they arrived at the mayor’s office. He pulled the car to the side of the road and stopped.  
  
SungGyu carefully got out of the car. “We will hurry.”  
  
“It shouldn’t take too long,” WooHyun stated as he carefully slipped out of the backseat. “If the captain starts making any abnormal breathing sounds…that won’t be entirely unexpected. I am not going to lie. He isn’t in good shape. The car has a horn and if you honk I will return immediately.”  
  
Junsu nodded his head. “Okay.”  
  
Ensign SungGyu and the doctor shut the car doors behind them and hurried inside the building. Junsu watched them enter the building, and then turned in his seat to look at the captain. Junsu fought back the urge to cry as he looked at the severely wounded man who had always been so kind and fair to him. He knew the captain’s life was slipping away, and there was very little they could do about it. They were just buying him time.  
  
Junsu reached to the backseat of the car and took the captain’s hand and pleaded, “Captain, we are doing everything we can…just hold on. I know the ship will find a way to get to us…Changmin’s super smart, and Yoochun…Yoochun’s your best friend…no way are they going to let you die down here. So you can’t die…you have to hold on. And Jaejoong…you don’t want him to die do you? No, so you can’t die. Changmin isn’t even born yet. Too many have died already, and you just can’t…you can’t die…not you, Captain. I don’t—”  
  
The door to the passenger’s side of the car swung open unexpectedly and a young boy got into the car. “He looks bad,” the boy said in concern, peering over the front seat to look at Yunho.  
  
“Who are you?” Junsu let go of the captain’s hand and demanded of the boy who had surprised him with his sudden entrance. The handsome boy looked to be in his early teens.  
  
The young boy leaned over the seat and took the captain’s hand that Junsu had released in his surprise, and answered, “I’m nobody important. My brother and I were just taking a walk. We wanted to get out of the house.”  
  
“You can’t be here. It’s dangerous! You need to leave,” Junsu ordered, trying to sound demanding. He found that he was feeling more confused by the minute. He was having a great deal of difficulty concentrating. “Wait? Did you say you and your brother? Your brother is with you?”  
  
The young boy cast his eyes to the door to the backseat of the car as it opened and another boy looking even younger than him slid in. “He looks bad.  Ta—” and stopped suddenly as he looked at the other boy, who was glaring at him.  
  
The boy in the front seat stopped glaring and told his younger looking brother, “He does look bad. We have to hurry.”  
  
“What do you mean you have to hurry? You boys can’t be out like this…there is a pox outbreak,” Junsu said at a loss, struggling to think clearly. “You don’t want to get sick. I hear the pox is very contagious.”  
  
“We have really good immune systems,” the younger boy told Junsu as he laid his hand against Yunho’s forehead.  
  
“Good immune systems?” Junsu repeated as he watched the younger boy, who seemed to be very worried for the captain.  
  
The older looking of the boys had gotten out of the front seat of the car and opened the door opposite of his brother and squeezed into the backseat. He told the baffled Junsu, “Don’t worry about us. You look really tired though.”  
  
“I do?” Junsu asked, confused. He hadn’t felt tired earlier.  
  
“You do,” both of the boys confirmed.  
  
Junsu shook his head. “I don’t feel tired.”  
  
“Are you sure?” The older boy asked as he reached out and took Yunho’s hand again.  
  
“I am not…” Junsu was interrupted as he let out a big yawn. “Well, maybe a little bit, but I can’t sleep.”  
  
“Junsu, you should take a nap,” the younger of the boys told him.  
  
The older boy nodded his head. “It’s okay, we will watch him for you, Junsu.”  
  
Junsu stared at the handsome boys, totally confused. How did they know his name? For some strange reason he felt as if he should trust them. He did feel tired, but he knew he couldn’t sleep. “I can’t take a nap! I am responsible for the captain…I have to…stay…awake,” Junsu tried to insist as he fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Lieutenant SooYoung

“What? No welcoming party?” A young woman in her early twenties, with a bright smile and long brown hair, asked as she stepped off a train.  
  
Another young woman with a sour expression upon her face followed her off the train, and told the smiling woman, “Tiffany, it’s hardly time for a party.”  
  
Tiffany cheerfully explained, “It’s always time for a party! I guess the people of Coppin don’t believe in having fun.” She then teased, “Taeyeon, are you from here by any chance?” She then playfully bumped shoulders with the other woman standing beside her. They both had on dark brown clothing that consisted of long pants, short sleeved shirts, boots, and gun holsters attached to their shoulders.  
  
“No, I am….” the other woman paused as she caught sight of an elderly man approaching them. “You spoke too soon.”  
  
Tiffany turned toward the elderly man that was approaching them. “Hello Good Sir, we have come as request—”  
  
“What is wrong with him?” Taeyeon exclaimed, interrupting Tiffany as the elderly man came closer and his face was exposed.  
  
Tiffany tried to hide her shock as the man came to a stop in front of her. He was waving his hands and appeared to be shooing them back onto the train. His face and arms were covered in welts.  
  
“What language is he speaking?” a confused Tiffany asked while leaning back to make sure the elderly man didn’t touch her.  
  
“Who can tell? All these little countries have their own languages. I have always thought Lord Hangeng should insist on one planetary language.”  
  
“That would make everything so much easier,” Tiffany agreed, looking at the distressed man sadly. “I wonder if it’s painful.”  
  
“I just hope it isn’t contagious,” Taeyeon told her as she pulled the gun from her holster and aimed it at the elderly man. The old man quickly stumbled backwards, but continued to talk frantically.  
  
Tiffany reached up, placing the palms of hands against her cheeks. “I hope not, too.”  
  
“He is warning you! He stayed here risking his own health to warn us. Do you plan on shooting him for all his efforts?” Another woman, who was much taller with black hair, demanded as she stepped off the train. This woman was wearing the same clothing as the other two but she did not have a gun.  
  
Taeyeon gritted her teeth, and then snapped, “I wasn’t planning on it, SooYoung.”  
  
“I think she just wanted him to take a few steps back,” Tiffany explained to the taller woman that was now standing between them.  
  
“What is he warning us about?” Taeyeon asked, not lowering her gun.  
  
The taller woman quickly explained, “This town has been overcome with the pox. He is trying to get us to turn back before we become infected.”  
  
“Well, that’s nice of him. We should leave,” Tiffany said, quickly nodding her head. “That’s the kind of facial outbreak I’d like to avoid.”  
  
Taeyeon shook her head at the naivety of the other woman. “Fat chance of that.”  
  
The taller woman, stepped forward and spoke to the man in his own language, causing Tiffany to ask, “What did you tell him?”  
  
SooYoung shrugged and informed them in a nonchalant voice, “I thanked him for warning us, but I let him know that Lord Hangeng does not value our lives. He has murder on his mind, and the lives of three women are of little consequence to him.”  
  
“SooYoung!” Tiffany exclaimed. “You can’t say that.”  
  
“She’s right, though,” Taeyeon had to admit. “But I am curious which of the four of us do you think would survive?”  
  
SooYoung turned around and gazed past them to the blonde woman who still lingered on the train watching them. “Oh, I think Vic would live.”  
  
“Thank you, SooYoung, for having so much faith in my immune system,” the blonde woman said as she stepped off the train.  
  
SooYoung’s eyes narrowed, and told her sarcastically, “It’s almost inhuman.”  
  
“You exaggerate, I just take good care of myself,” Vic told SooYoung as she came to stand between Tiffany and Taeyeon. “Taeyeon, stop scaring the old man.”  
  
Taeyeon lowered her gun, following the blonde woman’s command. “I just thought distance was a good idea in a situation like this.”  
  
Vic turned to face Taeyeon and told her in a calm voice, “Our Lord Hangeng would do everything in his power to make us better if we became ill. We are his treasured elite force.”  
  
“I am sorry for what I said,” Taeyeon told the blonde woman who was obviously in charge, lowering her head, as if ashamed of herself.  
  
“All is forgiven,” Vic told Taeyeon and then turned to SooYoung and asked her, “Would you be so kind as to thank that poor old man for his warning, and then ask him to return to his home and take care of himself.”  
  
“Why don’t you tell him?” A defiant SooYoung asked with a fake smile plastered upon her face.  
  
Vic smiled back at SooYoung and informed her, “Oh, I don’t know this language either. You will have to do it for me.”  
  
SooYoung grunted and turned around and quickly told the elderly man thanks and for him to return home.  
  
“I want a translator imbedded in my head like SooYoung’s,” Tiffany whined.  
  
“Gosh knows, there is plenty of spare room for it,” Taeyeon couldn’t resist telling her.  
  
“Hey, I’m way more intell—Vic, what’s wrong!” Tiffany exclaimed, full of worry as the blonde turned a paler shade than her normally fair complexion, and swayed on her feet.  
  
Tiffany and Taeyeon quickly moved to Vic’s side, each taking a hold of one of her arms as the other woman tried to steady herself.  
  
“What’s wrong?” A worried Taeyeon asked. “Is Our Lady Hangeng communicating with you?”  
  
Vic, who had her eyes closed tightly, nodded her head. “She thought she sensed the presence of other Joongs.”  
  
SooYoung smiled brightly, and happily responded, “Maybe Yunho’s mate is here, and his son. They probably aren’t too keen on the idea of Hangeng ordering Yunho’s death.”  
  
“Probably not,” Tiffany agreed; she also had misgivings about their mission.  
  
“Also, I am sure Yunho’s mate is an honorable Joong…unlike another I know. He’d probably follow the Joong laws about killing people, but you all are trying to kill his mate; so if I understand correctly that changes everything,” SooYoung told them with great satisfaction.  
  
“Why do you sound happy? Aren’t we your friends?” Tiffany asked, hurt clear in her voice.  
  
“No, we are not friends! You are holding me hostage! I want to return to my ship!” SooYoung told her, completely exasperated. “So tell me Vic…who will win in a telepathic fight; a Joong that does the bidding of their thug space mate or the prince of Joong?”  
  
“Shut up, SooYoung!” Taeyeon yelled. “I’m not happy about this mission either, but Our Lady Hangeng has shown you nothing but kindness!”  
  
“She kidnapped me, and then she sold my cousin into a life of slavery!” SooYoung protested, bending over and raising her pant leg to show a metal band strapped around her ankle. “I am constantly monitored and tracked! Like a common criminal!”  
  
“Our Lord Hangeng had that done because you were always escaping! Our Lady Hangeng must follow the orders of her mate,” Tiffany explained. “You are lucky that Our Lady Hangeng treasures your closed mind so much; it’s because of her Lord Hangeng didn’t sell you, too!”  
  
“Stop it!” Vic ordered as she pulled away from the two women holding on to her. “It was just a false alarm. Our Lady Hangeng now states she is the only Joong on the planet.”  
  
“If they were here…I pray they took Yunho and left,” SooYoung told the quickly recovering Vic.  
  
The blonde woman exhaled slowly and looked up sadly at the taller woman. “They didn’t. He’s still on the planet, and I’m sorry, but he has to die.”  
  
SooYoung folded her arms in front of her and vowed, full of defiance, “I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen.”  
  
The blonde woman gave her a sad, knowing smile. “I know you will.”  
  
**********************  
  
Jaejoong bolted up in bed screaming for Yunho at the top of his lungs. Sulli, who had been sitting at his bedside jumped up and grabbed him by the arm.  
  
“Jaejoong, calm down,” Sulli begged as Jaejoong jerked free of her and kicked his legs over the side of the bed, while continuing to cry for Yunho. “Yunho isn’t here.”  
  
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Jaejoong snapped as he got out of bed and immediately fell to the floor when his legs refused to hold him up. “I have to get to him.”  
  
“You can’t, not right now,” Sulli responded as she tentatively reached for the man on the floor.  
  
Jaejoong jerked his arm away from her and demanded, “Why are you here?”  
  
Sulli stood back up, flustered. “Changmin can’t be with you…and since I am his friend, I thought I would sit with you.”  
  
Jaejoong grabbed her by her leg and cried out, “Changmin is with Yunho! Changmin is not the one who can save him! I have to go to the planet! Why didn’t they take me to the planet! I have to get to Yunho. Changmin shouldn’t have gone without me!”  
  
“Changmin isn’t on the planet. Changmin is on the ship trying to find a way to get you to Yunho,” Sulli explained in a soothing voice as she knelt back down beside the distraught Joong, pried his hand off her leg and clasped it.  
  
Jaejoong pulled away from Sulli, looking truly confused, and asked, “Changmin really isn’t on the planet?”  
  
Sulli shook her head. “You can read my mind. You know I am not lying to you.”  
  
Jaejoong eyes narrowed, and he squeezed her hand tightly. “Maybe you don’t know! They didn’t tell you! I have to get to Yunho! Ryeowook, I have to get to Yunho! You have to make them take me down there, now! So help me if they don’t, I will make them take me!”  
  
Sulli looked up at Ryeowook, who had entered the room unbeknownst to her. “Doctor?”  
  
Ryeowook walked over to the man on the floor and bent down to look Jaejoong in the eyes. “Jaejoong, I just came from a briefing, and Changmin was there. He isn’t on the planet.”  
  
Jaejoong looked dazed as he read Ryeowook’s mind. “But how is that possible?”  
  
“They haven’t found a way through the atmosphere yet, but they aren’t giving up,” Ryeowook explained as he and Sulli helped Jaejoong back into bed. “Changmin said he will find a way.”  
  
“But Yunho…he is better,” Jaejoong explained. “I felt…I thought I felt…a…bond….I was sure I felt it.”  
  
“Yunho is really better?” Ryeowook asked, happily surprised as he pushed Jaejoong back down to rest against the pillow. “This is great news.”  
  
A perplexed Jaejoong blinked several times, and informed the doctor, “He is still critically injured…but he is stronger. I don’t understand…I thought I felt…but I can’t feel Changmin…not like that. I don’t understand.”  
  
“Jaejoong, you’re just confused. It’s understandable. You have used all your strength in maintaining the bond, keeping Yunho alive. If Yunho is doing better, it’s because of you. You should rest now. Once we figure out a way to break through the atmosphere Yunho is going to need you badly. Unless you want me to take care of Yunho for you,” Ryeowook told Jaejoong, hoping to provoke the Joong’s fighting spirit.  
  
Jaejoong looked up at Ryeowook with huge, tearful blue eyes. “I just want him safe. I don’t care who helps him…I just want him back.”  
  
Sulli quietly slipped out of the room, allowing the friends to talk alone.  
  
Ryeowook smiled sadly down at Jaejoong. “I know you do. We will get him back. I know we will.”  
  
Jaejoong sniffled and then curled up on his side and told the doctor, “If I just get him back, then I can undo any of the lasting negative effects that primitive healing methods might have inflicted on him.”  
  
Ryeowook reached a hand down and ran it through Jaejoong’s tousled hair. “Yes, of course you will.  
  
***************************  
  
“You fell asleep,” SungGyu said in disbelief. When he and WooHyun had returned from retrieving the phaser they had found Ensign Junsu sleeping soundly in the driver’s seat of the car.  
  
Junsu cringed. “I know.”  
  
“You fell asleep!” SungGyu repeated.  
  
“I don’t know why! I wasn’t even sleepy,” Junsu said, completely horrified by his own behavior, as he drove them to the site where their escape pods had crashed.  
  
SungGyu shook his head, still staring at Junsu. “You fell asleep.”  
  
“Can you stop?” Woohyun beseeched from the back of the car. “We know! He fell asleep! He feels bad enough.”  
  
SungGyu turned around to face the doctor, informing him, “You do not understand! We go through intense training at the academy to avoid such things from ever happening! You are not supposed to fall asleep on away missions! You most certainly are not supposed to fall asleep when you are guarding your gravely injured captain!”  
  
“He feels bad enough without you constantly reminding him. Just be grateful that nothing bad happened. I am so glad you are not my boss.”  
  
Junsu winced and quickly corrected the doctor, “Actually…I am the highest ranking person here.”  
  
“Really?” WooHyun asked in surprise. “Can’t you order him to stop nagging you?”  
  
SungGyu turned back around in his seat, glaring at the road ahead of them. Perhaps he had been nagging, but what if somebody had found them in the car? All their efforts would have been for nothing. But still, he had to admit to himself the doctor was right; reminding Junsu of his incompetence wasn’t achieving anything but making the older ensign more embarrassed.  
  
Junsu told the doctor, “I wouldn’t order him to stop because—”  
  
“Because he is insolent and wouldn’t listen to you?” WooHyun interrupted to ask.  
  
Junsu smiled and shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t order him to stop because he is right. I shouldn’t have fallen asleep. I still can’t believe I did it.”  
  
WooHyun who was taking the captain’s pulse, explained, “You are a human being…human beings make mistakes. No harm done.”  
  
SungGyu, who tired his best to not choke on his words, agreed, “Yes, the doctor is correct. I know you didn’t intend to fall asleep. We will just forget it and focus on the task ahead of us.”  
  
WooHyun pulled out a manual blood pressure cuff from his medical bag and beamed. “I knew you would see it my way.”  
  
SungGyu sealed his lips together and clenched his teeth. He called on his academy training and kept himself from saying anything back to the doctor.  
  
“When we get there, what do we do? Do we leave the car? Or does one of us need to stay in the car with the captain?” Junsu asked, feeling less burdened now.  
  
“I don’t want to leave anybody behind. If the Expectations does manage to receive our message, I want us all together so we can all be beamed up together. The crash site is about a kilometer off the road. We will take the car off the road and drive it as far as we can, and then we will have to ditch it.”  
  
“Is the captain strong enough to survive that? Plus, with your back injury, will you be able to help us much with him?” Junsu asked.  
  
“My back is fine.”  
  
“Liar,” WooHyun said from the backseat, while he still studied the captain intently. “Riding in this car isn’t helping it any, but once you get out and start walking it should loosen up.”  
  
SungGyu frowned. He thought he had kept the doctor in the dark regarding his back injury. He had done everything in his power to ignore the pain. “I will manage, but what about the captain? Can he tolerate it?”  
  
WooHyun looked up and met SungGyu’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “He’s still severely injured, but…”  
  
“But what?” SungGyu asked.  
  
“He’s better,” a stunned WooHyun explained. “I don’t know how it is possible, but he is better. His pulse is stronger and his blood pressure is up. It’s like as if while we were gone he somehow got a blood transfusion…or something.”  
  
SungGyu turned to face Junsu. “Is it possible that somebody drugged Ensign Junsu and gave the captain a blood transfusion while we were gone?”  
  
“I swear I wasn’t sleepy!” Junsu exclaimed.  
  
“There is no way he had time to get a blood transfusion…I am not an expert on Joongs, but is it possible his mate is down here?” WooHyun asked.  
  
“No,” Junsu quickly answered. “If Jaejoong was on the planet he would be with Yunho now.”  
  
SungGyu nodded his head. “I am by no means an expert on their relationship, but from what I have heard, if Jaejoong was down here he’d be plastered to the captain’s side. No way would he heal him and then wander off.”  
  
“He isn’t completely healed by any means, but there is a substantial improvement. He’s still in very critical condition though,” the doctor explained.  
  
“Well, any improvement is a blessing,” Junsu told the doctor, relieved.  
  
WooHyun nodded his head. “I agree.”  
  
“We are here,” SungGyu said, pointing off to the side of the road. “Ensign Junsu, I know the car won’t go far once we get off the road, but any distance is better than none.”  
  
“Understood,” Junsu concurred, and took the car off the road as easily as he could. “It’s going to be bumpy.”  
  
“Just be as gentle as you can manage,” WooHyun implored. “Neither the captain nor Ensign SungGyu will be able to handle many bumps.”  
  
“I am fin…” SungGyu paused as the car hit a large bump that had him seeing stars. “I am fine.”  
  
“Liar,” WooHyun repeated from earlier as he applied pressure to the bandage covering the captain’s wound.  
  
“I wonder if the captain…if his Joong mate is healing the captain from orbit?” SungGyu asked, trying his best to ignore the bumpy car ride.  
  
“Again, I am not an expert on Joongs, but it’s a widely held theory that they have to be touching to heal their mates,” WooHyun explained.  
  
Junsu continued driving and added, “But the captain and Jaejoong have a timeless love.”  
  
“Isn’t that romantic,” SungGyu remarked with a hint of sarcasm as he braced himself in the car.  
  
“No, really,” Junsu explained. “They have encountered each other in repeated lives. The Guardian…or is it the Time Keeper? The time thing on Eternity told them so, and even showed them. It’s why Jaejoong and Yunho could have a child.”  
  
“That’s remarkable,” An impressed WooHyun told Junsu. “Maybe their bond is strong enough to overcome this great distance.”  
  
Junsu stopped the car. “The trees are too thick now to continue driving.”  
  
“Yeah,” SungGyu agreed as he quickly opened the car door and stumbled out of the vehicle. Once he was out he stayed bent over and attempted to straighten his injured back as painlessly as possible.  
  
WooHyun and Junsu also got out of the car.  
  
“I could give you something for your back pain, but you would have to allow Junsu and me to make all the major decisions,” WooHyun explained.  
  
“I’m fine,” SungGyu insisted as he straightened up with his hands placed firmly on his lower back, pressing in.  
  
“I knew you would say that,” WooHyun told SungGyu, rolling his eyes. Junsu suppressed a laugh as he walked over to WooHyun to help him ease the captain out of the back of the car.  
  
SungGyu pulled out the phaser and told them, “If you two can manage the captain, I will lead the way.”  
  
“We can manage,” Junsu replied as he and WooHyun held the captain up between the two of them.  
  
SungGyu moved ahead with the others following behind him. They moved slowly through the cluster of trees. SungGyu told them, “In a best case scenario, we will find the insignia and contact Lieutenant Sungmin and the others. They will be close by with their intact escape pods and most importantly they will have their med kits.”  
  
“That would be nice,” Junsu agreed, explaining to WooHyun who was helping him carry the captain. “We have really advanced medicine.”  
  
“I am sure you do, and I would welcome any help I can get.”  
  
“Your face is looking a lot better.” Junsu told WooHyun. The blisters on the doctor’s face had started to fade.  
  
WooHyun smiled at Junsu and explained, “I gave myself a smaller dose.”  
  
SungGyu paused as they reached the small clearing where his and Junsu’s escape pods had crashed. “This is where we crashed. We don’t have much farther to go.”  
  
“Not much father,” Junsu agreed.  
  
“Stop,” WooHyun ordered. “He opened his eyes.”  
  
“Captain,” Junsu called out excitedly as the two men eased the captain to the ground. “Captain, are you awake?”  
  
“Urgh,” was the captain’s only reply as he let out a weak cough, attempting to clear his throat, while shutting his eyes.  
  
WooHyun fussed, “We have to prop him up against a tree. He can’t lie flat. He has to sit straight up.”  
  
“Okay,” Junsu replied, calming his excitement as he and WooHyun moved the captain to a large tree and propped him up against it.  
  
SungGyu carefully knelt down in front of the captain. “Captain, can you hear us?”  
  
Yunho’s eyes opened as he stared at the young ensign in front of him. With a weak, scratchy voice he replied, “Ensign, I feel like shit.”  
  
SungGyu beamed at his captain and informed, “You look it, too, Sir.”  
  
“SungGyu,” Junsu exclaimed from beside the captain, taking Yunho’s hand and holding it. “Don’t listen to him, Captain. You are going to be fine. You are going to be wonderful. You will be fixed up in no time.”  
  
“As soon as we get you back to your ship,” WooHyun agreed from the other side of the captain.  
  
Yunho turned his head to face the unfamiliar voice. Yunho’s eyes started to droop as he turned back to face Ensign SungGyu. “Recruiting new help?”  
  
“We can use all the help we can get, Sir,” SungGyu answered and continued, “Our pods crashed here. Before Ensign Junsu or I could get out of our pods the locals found us. They were armed and not cooperative. They did allow us to retrieve you from your damaged pod. They then placed us in jail. The Warlord Hangeng is aware of our pre—”  
  
“Kangin…Sungmin…” the weakening captain asked.  
  
“We have not seen or heard from them. Our insignias were taken from us immediately along with everything else inside the pods. We are attempting to retrieve an insignia now, in hopes of contacting the other away team members, or hopefully the ship.”  
  
Yunho fought to keep his eyes open. “Get it now; leave me here,” Yunho ordered, before falling back into unconsciousness.  
  
“Yes, Sir,” SungGyu obeyed, handing Junsu his phaser. “I will be right back.”  
  
Ensign Junsu and WooHyun watched as SungGyu hurried off.  
  
WooHyun asked, “It isn’t far is it?”  
  
Junsu shook his head. “No, not far. I just hope it’s still there.”  
  
  
***********************************  
  
Kangin was sitting on the beach peeling dried green slime off his arms when his insignia chirped. Kangin quickly tapped it; “Kangin, here.”  
  
“Ensign Kangin, this is Ensign SungGyu.”  
  
Kangin stood up immediately, and shouted, “Kid! Where’s the captain?”  
  
“The captain’s escape pod was damaged during the landing, but he’s still alive.”  
  
Kangin frowned. “That sounds ominous.”  
  
“He is badly injured but he regained consciousness not too long ago. Sir, do you know your location? Is Lieutenant Sungmin with you?”  
  
“The lieutenant is with me…or he was; he went in search of fresh water with Siwon.” We won’t be any help to you kid, we are over 8000 kilometers away. Plus we are stuck in the middle of the ocean on an uninhabited island.”  
  
“That’s most unfortunate.”  
  
Kangin took off in the direction that Siwon and Sungmin had gone off in earlier. “Yeah, it is. We did get your message earlier. What did those locals do to you? Is Junsu okay?”  
  
“Ensign Junsu is fine. The locals jailed us, and notified the Warlord Hangeng of our presence, but the blackouts have slowed down Hangeng’s people from reaching us. We managed to escape with the aid of the doctor they sent to examine the captain.”  
  
“Good going,” Kangin said in approval. “What are you doing now?”  
  
“I am on my way back to the others. The captain ordered me to go retrieve the insignia before he lost consciousness again. I was unable to contact the ship.”  
  
“We haven’t had any luck either. When I was stuck on the planet with the evil vampire bitches we had trouble contacting the ship then, also. We managed though, and since you are Yoochun’s and Yunho’s pet I am sure you will figure something out,” Kangin told SungGyu as he headed toward Sungmin and Siwon with his phaser drawn. It worried Kangin that Sungmin had not responded to SungGyu’s call. Sungmin and Siwon were both wearing insignias.  
  
“Sir, I am flattered by your confidence, but it was Lieutenant Jung who managed to get the insignias working on that occasion and his intelligence far exceeds mine.”  
  
“Don’t sell yourself short—Urgh!” Kangin exclaimed as he reached the pool of water to find a most unwelcome sight.  
  
“Sir, is anything wrong?” an alarmed SungGyu asked.  
  
Kangin quickly looked away, attempting to master his disgust, and explained to the young ensign. “Well, I just found Siwon with his dick down Lieutenant Sungmin’s throat. Not something I was hoping to see, anytime…ever!”  
  
“Ensign Kangin,” Sungmin yelled as he quickly scrambled away from Siwon. “You are in contact with the others?”  
  
“Yes, Sir, I kept my insignia close by…like regulations demand,” Kangin answered, not bothering to hide his contempt. “Yunho is nearly dead, but don’t you worry; I have been talking to Ensign SungGyu. The kid has never even been on an away mission before, I thought he might need advice…but I know you have things you’d rather be doing.”  
  
“Kangin,” Sungmin warned as he went through his discarded clothing and grabbed his insignia.  
  
“Kid, keep your dick in your pants on away missions and you will go far in life. An excellent officer should always put the mission above his own sexual appetite,” Kangin told Ensign SungGyu, loving the humiliated look on Sungmin’s face. Kangin’s already low opinion of Sungmin dipped even lower and he smiled, knowing if he ever made it back to the ship he was going to write a very detailed report.  
  
“That’s enough, Ensign Kangin,” Sungmin seethed as he tapped his insignia. “Ensign SungGyu, report.”  
  
“We crashed onto dry land. While Ensign Junsu and my pods remained intact, the captain’s incurred considerable damage. The captain is critically injured. All our equipment was confiscated by the locals and we were jailed. With the assistance of a local doctor we were able to escape the jail. We returned to our crash site to retrieve this insignia. We also managed to retrieve a phaser. The warlord Hangeng is aware of our arrival, and we were being held so we could be handed over to his people. The occurrence in space that caused the destruction of our shuttle craft has also affected the planet. The planet has suffered from massive blackouts, slowing the arrival of Hangeng’s people. I am on my way back to the captain and Ensign Junsu after retrieving the insignia,” Ensign SungGyu quickly explained.  
  
“Good work, Ensign…excellent job,” Sungmin told them as he quickly got dressed. “Stun anybody that comes near you. If Hangeng sends his mate after you, you will only get one chance. Do you understand?”  
  
There was only silence.  
  
“Ensign SungGyu,” Sungmin repeated with only empty air as his response. “Ensign SungGyu. Ensign Junsu!”  
  
Siwon, who had walked up behind them after getting dressed, somberly added, “Maybe he didn’t even get one chance.”  
  
**************  
  
“So it was just a random occurrence,” Commander Kyuhyun asked. He was standing behind Lieutenant Jung on the bridge of the ship.  
  
Lieutenant Jung, who was sitting at his station, replied, “No, the odds of three stars going nova at the same time in such a close vicinity is astronomical. It appears there is a technology at work in this galaxy that we were previously unaware of.”  
  
“The anomaly that sent us here…could this newly discovered technology also be responsible for our arrival to this galaxy?” Kyuhyun asked.  
  
“I would not hazard a guess; there are too many unknown variables,” Changmin replied while still working.  
  
“Of course,” Kyuhyun agreed. “Plus our main objective has to be breaking through the atmosphere.”  
  
“It is proving to be most—” Changmin stopped as his insignia chirped.  
  
“Changmin, if you could spare a few minutes, I would be mighty grateful if you would drop by sickbay,” the very anxious voice of Ryeowook could be heard saying.  
  
“What is he doing?” Changmin asked, not leaving his station, or stopping his work.  
  
The exasperated voice of Ryeowook explained, “He’s insistent on returning to his quarters.”  
  
“Then let him, doctor,” Changmin replied. “You can do nothing for him. If you deny him he will just make you or others take him there against your will. If being in the quarters he shares with Yunho comforts him then allow him that one small comfort…but, you should also inform him I am wearing my necklace and I am closely monitoring him. If he makes any attempt to go near the transporter room, or if anybody else initiates any suspicious activity in the transporter room or in the docking bay, he will find himself wearing this necklace, instead.”  
  
After a short period of silence Ryeowook asked, “Changmin, are you still alive?”  
  
Changmin arched both eyebrows, confused by the doctor’s sudden question and stated, “I am uninjured.”  
  
“That’s amazing considering the look on his face right now,” Ryeowook explained. “Anybody else would be dead.”  
  
“I am wearing the necklace,” Changmin reminded them. “I must end this conversation now; the problem of breaking through the atmosphere requires all of my attention.”  
  
“Understood,” Ryeowook replied.  
  
Kyuhyun reached up and squeezed Changmin’s shoulder. “I was wondering why you were wearing it.”  
  
“My Joong parent should not be underestimated,” Changmin told the commander. “Just like my human one should not be underestimated.”  
  
Kyuhyun let go of Changmin’s shoulder and headed back to the captain’s seat, but said under his breath, “Just like their son should never be underestimated.”


	5. My Past That Never Was

SungGyu, who had just arrived back in the area where he had left the captain, Junsu, and WooHyun, came to a dead stop. A blonde woman was leaning against the tree where Ensign Junsu was sitting beside the unconscious captain, with Woohyun sitting on the captain’s other side. The woman had a gun pointing at Junsu’s head. She looked at SungGyu and motioned toward his insignia and whispered, “Turn it off.”  
  
SungGyu immediately reached up and tapped his insignia off.  
  
“Now, take it and throw it as far as you can,” the blonde woman ordered.  
  
SungGyu did as he was told, throwing the insignia far away. The woman cast a smile in his direction and then reached down and took the phaser away from Junsu. “Too bad you only have one of these.”  
  
“Yes, it is,” SungGyu agreed. He would have loved to have another phaser at the moment.  
  
“Don’t blame this one,” the blonde said as she affectionately patted Junsu on the head. “He’s a sweetheart. He was nice enough to activate the…phaser for me. He’s been very hospitable to us.”  
  
“Us?”  
  
“Me and my girls,” the blonde woman explained as three other women walked into view.  
  
Junsu gasped aloud and stood up; shocked as he recognized one of the women. “Lieutenant SooYoung!”  
  
“Now, now, now; sit back down,” the blonde woman ordered as she pushed Junsu back to the ground. “Calm down, and take a deep breath, this much excitement isn’t good for your heart.”  
  
SungGyu glared at SooYoung and accused, “You are with them?”  
  
“No,” SooYoung barked, offended at the accusation. “Never; I am their hostage.”  
  
“I wish you wouldn’t say that,” Tiffany told SooYoung, sounding truly hurt.  
  
Taeyeon, who had her gun aimed at the back of WooHyun’s head, added, “She actually is a hostage…or perhaps a treasured slave.”  
  
“Slave? That’s a little harsh,” Tiffany told Taeyeon.  
  
“Yes, much too harsh,” the blonde agreed as she pointed to SungGyu and then to another nearby tree. “I want you to sit down there.”  
  
SungGyu did as he was told, without a second thought.  
  
Then Vic turned to WooHyun, ordering, “You go sit with him.”  
  
WooHyun got up and did as he was told, also without a word of objection.  
  
Tiffany knelt down beside the captain and told the others, “He doesn’t look good.”  
  
“No, he doesn’t. It’s better that he stays unconscious,” the blonde told them. “It’s easier this way.”  
  
“Since you are planning to murder him,” SooYoung told the blonde. “Is it easier to murder a man with his eyes shut, Vic?”  
  
“Murder him?” Junsu asked in an alarmed voice. “You can’t murder the captain.”  
  
“We don’t have a choice…we have our orders,” Vic told them, stepping away from Junsu. “The Council of Warlords has ordered his death.”  
  
“No, but you can’t.” Junsu pleaded. “He didn’t survive all of this just to die. You can’t kill him.”  
  
“I know it’s been very hard, and I wish it didn’t have to end this way,” the blonde told Junsu, stepping farther away from him.  
  
“You aren’t sorry, Vic. If you were sorry, it wouldn’t be happening!” SooYoung accused. “Nobody has to die here!”  
  
Vic closed her eyes and told SooYoung in a long suffering voice, “You have never understood. I must follow the orders that Our Lord and Lady Hangeng give me.”  
  
“The hell you do! You are Lady Hangeng,” SooYoung spat back at Vic.  
  
Tiffany and Taeyeon looked at each other and shared a laugh. “Are you nuts, SooYoung?” Tiffany asked the lieutenant, finding her claim hilarious.  
  
“You have seen Our Lady Hangeng…she’s a lot bigger and lot older than Vic,” Taeyeon told SooYoung, shaking her head in dismay.  
  
SungGyu, who was listening closely, added, “Isn’t he the warlord with the mommy issues?”  
  
“Unfortunately,” Vic answered. “But who are we to judge the immortal love between Joongs and their mates.”  
  
“Hangeng doesn’t have any mommy issues. That is what they want everybody to believe so she can do his bidding, bending others to his will. I assure you, she is a Joong,” SooYoung declared. “This isn’t the first time I have made this accusation and each time…everybody else seems to have forgotten I’ve ever made it.”  
  
“Which you should be grateful for, because it’s totally insane,” Tiffany told her, still laughing.  
  
SungGyu’s eyes narrowed. “Or extremely clever.”  
  
“Exactly!” SooYoung said with much relief. “Finally, somebody believes me. If they knew she was a Joong they could use her against him, but this way, she sneaks around doing all his dirty work without getting a second glance.”  
  
“Now dear, I get lots of second glances. I am rather attractive,” Vic said, trying to tease the lieutenant.  
  
“And that is why your elite force consists of only attractive females…to distract from your own beauty,” SooYoung informed her. “You can fool everybody else but you can’t fool me.”  
  
Vic looked back at SooYoung and shook her head, relenting. “Your mind is a mystery I enjoy, but at times I would give almost anything to control it.”  
  
“Then you finally admit it?” SooYoung asked surprised.  
  
“Yes, I will give you that. I am the Joong you believe me to be,” Vic told SooYoung before raising the phaser and shooting the lieutenant.  
  
“SooYoung!” Tiffany screamed and ran towards the fallen woman. “You shot her. How could you shoot her?”  
  
“You stay where I told you,” Vic yelled at WooHyun, who had gotten up to go to the fallen woman. WooHyun sat back down, doing as he was told; his mind greatly influenced by the Joong. “The fake pox outbreak was very clever, doctor,” Vic added.  
  
WooHyun, who had his eyes glued to the fallen SooYoung, muttered back, “Thanks.”  
  
Taeyeon stared at Vic horror-struck as she fumbled over her words, “You…you…you…but you liked her…is what she said true …are you the real Lady Hangeng?”  
  
“You shot her,” Tiffany repeated, kneeling down beside SooYoung’s limp body.  
  
“She is only stunned,” Vic informed them. “I haven’t kept her this long just to kill her. I can’t trust her. It’s better with her unconscious…she doesn’t need to see this.”  
  
Tiffany, who was feeling of SooYoung’s pulse, sighed in relief. “It’s like she is only sleeping.”  
  
“Stunning somebody once causes them no permanent harm,” SungGyu explained, while watching the Joong apprehensively. “When she awakens she will be fine.”  
  
“Are you Our Lady Hangeng?” Taeyeon demanded again. “Is what SooYoung said true? Have you been lying to us all along? All those messages you always said you were getting from…we’ve been such fools!”  
  
Vic closed her eyes as if Taeyeon’s words caused her physical pain.  _“It doesn’t matter. You don’t care,”_  she willed with the power of her mind to both of the other women.  
  
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t care,” Taeyeon repeated aloud.  
  
SungGyu watched as the angry woman calmed, as if the revelation that her commander was really Hangeng’s Joong mate meant nothing to her. SungGyu questioned, “What are you going to do with us?”  
  
“The captain is the only one…that has to die. I will not harm the rest of you. I will erase your memories of this encounter, and then I will leave you here. I will instruct the townspeople to leave you alone,” Vic told them. “Hopefully, someday you can return to your ship.”  
  
“Why does the captain have to die? SungGyu implored. “He has done nothing to you or your mate. We were only here to retrieve Lieutenant SooYoung.”  
  
“I know this, and I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but as long as he lives we are in danger from him and his mate,” Vic explained. “I can’t allow Hangeng to be in danger.”  
  
“You are not in danger! The captain doesn’t go looking for a fight. He isn’t even hunting after ZhouMi…after what he did! Please just leave him alone, please!” Junsu pleaded, feeling terribly helpless, he didn’t know how they could escape a Joong.  
  
The Joong winced as if Junsu’s mental anguish was physically hurting her. “You will not remember anything that happens here. The captain’s death will not be a burden you have to carry.”  
  
SungGyu watched the Joong dealing with Junsu and a thought occurred to him and then he tried desperately to suppress the thought.  
  
“You ask people about Joongs in this galaxy and they make them out be some great powerful, wonderful, evolved people, but they aren’t. You are a horrible people! First Hyun Joong betrays us to ZhouMi, and now you plan on killing the captain! You are a horrible people. Horrible! Is it possible Jaejoong is the only decent one of you? Even children on Earth know how wrong it is to murder a person in cold blood! We treat our animals better than you treat human beings,” Junsu cried.  
  
“Stop it,” a clearly shaken Vic told Junsu. “My blood does not run cold, I assure you. It does not. I feel the consequences of my actions! This is not...this is not how I want it to be! But I can not allow such a risk to my Hangeng to exist. I can not allow your captain or his Joong mate to live.”  
  
“Long before he found his Joong mate, the captain was loved by all his crew. He is not vindictive, but that can not be said of others on that ship. Without him there to control them…you will never know peace. They will hunt you down,” SungGyu told the Joong.  
  
“You don’t truly believe that,” Vic told SungGyu. “The lies you told the town’s people, will not work on me.”  
  
“I’m not lying!”  
  
“You might think your Commander Yoochun is vindictive…but if Commander Cho resumes command of the ship…he would not allow for such vengeances,” Vic reasoned as she shifted through Junsu and SungGyu’s minds finding the truth.  
  
“Would he not? Do you know what your friend the Warlord ZhouMi did to him?” SungGyu told her, trying his best to believe his own words and to be as emotional as possible. “He isn’t the same man he used to be…you Joongs saw to that. Hyun Joong delivered him to that madman!”  
  
“Stop it!” the Joong ordered, visibly shaken. “ZhouMi is not a friend of mine, but Hangeng is my life. I can’t allow such a danger to exist. He is not like ZhouMi!”  
  
“You can’t murder the captain,” Junsu begged as he grabbed a hold of the captain’s hand and squeezed it. “You can’t. You just can’t. He won’t hurt Hangeng. I promise he won’t.”  
  
“Stop it!” The Joong yelled, dropping to her knees, and willing the Star Fleet personal to be quiet.  
  
“Vic, are you okay?” Tiffany asked as she and Taeyeon approached their leader hesitantly.  
  
The Joong looked up at them and told them. “I am fine…just a momentary moment of weakness.”  
  
“Weakness?” Taeyeon questioned.  
  
Vic stood up and smiled at Taeyeon as a solution to her problem came to her. “I need to rid myself of the source of my weakness…and I hope to provide you with pleasure also.”  
  
A bewildered Taeyeon asked, “How?”  
  
“Stand up, Junsu,” Vic ordered, both mentally and verbally.  
  
Junsu immediately stood up.  
  
“Our young Junsu here is an innocent virgin, and even though he is very distressed about his dear captain, he is very attracted to you, Taeyeon.”  
  
“Just Taeyeon?” Tiffany asked with a frown.  
  
“Mostly Taeyeon, but he does find all of us attractive,” Vic answered. “We are going to let Junsu focus on more pleasurable things, and Taeyeon you could also benefit from the company of a man.”  
  
Taeyeon took a step back and refused, “No, I don’t think so, not like this. I am not...” She paused as the Joong manipulated her mind. “That would be nice. It’s been too long.”  
  
“What?” Junsu shrieked.  
  
Vic walked behind Junsu and rubbed his shoulders. The look of horror that had been on Junsu’s face disappeared and pure lust replaced it as he looked Taeyeon up and down. “It’s okay. Go enjoy yourself. She’s a very good teacher. I will make sure she is very nice to you; very,” Vic whispered, while persuading him telepathically.  
  
Taeyeon walked up and took Junsu’s hand and promised, “I’ll be really nice. You have a nice body.”  
  
“Thanks,” Junsu blushed and answered shyly as he allowed himself to be led away by Taeyeon.  
  
Tiffany watched Junsu and Taeyeon leave and asked uneasily, “Are you going to make me have sex with one of them too?”  
  
Vic shook her head, pointing toward WooHyun and SungGyu. “You are not their type.”  
  
WooHyun and SungGyu quickly glanced at each other then away. SungGyu found his tongue and told the Joong, “So you are not only a murderer but a rapist also?”  
  
Vic spun around to face SungGyu, taken aback by his accusation. “No, I am giving two adults what they both desire. It’s been much too long for her, and he abhors his lack of experience. Humans are always thinking up excuses to deny themselves what they want most. I just rid them of those excuses.”  
  
“You are totally disregarding free will.” SungGyu snapped back at her. “You are raping both of them, both mentally and physically!”  
  
“And you are trying to distract me from my true goal.”  
  
“Yes, I am,” SungGyu didn’t bother denying. “I can not in good consc—”  
  
A moan coming from the direction of SooYoung interrupted SungGyu’s tirade.  
  
“She is awakening already,” Vic said, displeased. Pulling a rope from her belt she tossed it to SungGyu. “You go tie her up. Tiffany can’t tie a knot to save her life.”  
  
“It’s true. I can’t even braid my hair…holy smokes!” Tiffany cried out. Instead of going to tie up SooYoung, SungGyu had lunged for WooHyun and laid a heated kiss on him.  
  
The two shocked women watched as the young ensign pressed the doctor back toward the ground; devouring him with hungry kisses as his hands fumbled underneath the doctor’s clothing, touching him all over.  
  
“Vic, I don’t know why you are doing it, but it’s a nice show,” Tiffany told the Joong approvingly.  
  
“I am not responsible for that,” Vic denied. “Stop it, and go tie her up!” Vic ordered aloud and mentally.  
  
SungGyu broke away from a very stunned WooHyun, picked up the rope and stumbled towards SooYoung, following the Joong’s commands.  
  
Vic, who was closely observing, watched as he bent over, rolled SooYoung to her side, and tied her hands behind her back, ordered, “Now, go back to where you were.”  
  
SungGyu got up quickly, twisting his back purposely as he made his way back to the doctor who was watching him with wide eyed amazement. SungGyu sat back down on the ground as roughly as he could, causing pain to go shooting up his spine.  
  
Vic turned away from SungGyu and stated, “It is time I finished this.”  
  
Tiffany looked back at the unconscious captain and asked, “Do you think maybe we could just…not? He doesn’t look like he will make it much longer anyway; maybe we could just let him die peacefully.”  
  
Vic closed her eyes and ordered, “Tiffany, go for a walk. Do not come back till I call for you.”  
  
Tiffany cast a sad glance toward the captain, nodding her head. “Okay, I just wish it could be different.”  
  
“I do too, but I can not give his ship anymore time to rescue him,” Vic told the other woman as she walked away. “It is not my decision or Hangeng’s decision alone…it was the decision of the Warlord Council.”  
  
“If you don’t feel it is the right thing to do, then don’t do it. Do you not have a mind of your own? Follow your conscience,” SungGyu pleaded. “It isn’t like Hangeng can divorce you. Just tell him it’s wrong and you won’t do it.”  
  
“You don’t know—”  
  
SungGyu quickly interrupted her, “It’s not wrong to have mercy on someone. It’s not! Let all of us go. The captain is dying already…you should not be his judge, jury, and executioner.”  
  
Vic inhaled a deep breath and said in a voice of longing, “When I was a child my parents surrounded me with love, but they were restless souls and they left the safety of the Joong home world to explore other worlds.”  
  
“I was a young girl when Hangeng’s father killed my birth parent, and by doing so killed both of my parents. Unfortunately, I was old enough to survive my parent’s deaths. Hangeng’s father captured and imprisoned me in hopes of bonding with me. He was an ill man and he thought that bonding with me would extend his life. For months he tried to bond with me and that is when I learned what true hell was.”  
  
“I would never bond with Hangeng’s father…no matter what he did to me. I could never forgive him for killing my parents. I am not the strongest or most gifted Joong, but I would not bond with that evil man. After months of torture he realized this and pushed his son on me instead. His son…his poor, young son who felt so sorry for me; his son that was often beaten for not abusing me as his father ordered…I did bond with him, to spare us both.”  
  
“I do not regret it…because we were both victims of that terrible man. When Hangeng’s father died he inherited his father’s empire, like all warlords do. Hangeng is not a cruel man…but powerful men…must maintain their power through ruthless means at times. He is not purposely cruel…and I am not a monster. I feel the weight of every wrong I have ever committed.”  
  
“That’s a terrible story,” WooHyun told the Joong. “I’m sorry that your life has been so tragic, but your past does not excuse what you do here today.”  
  
“No, it doesn’t,” SungGyu agreed, twisting his back again, causing pain to go shooting up his spine. “You can’t kill him.”  
  
With tears sliding down her face the Joong told them, “I am not going to kill him…I can not.”  
  
WooHyun heaved in relief. “Thank God!”  
  
A still suspicious SungGyu questioned, “What are you saying, exactly?”  
  
“I can not pull the trigger…it is against Joong law.”  
  
“If not you…then who?” SungGyu demanded.  
  
“Not you, I don’t trust you with a phaser…you are purposely clouding your mind with pain and emotions. The good doctor will put the captain out of his misery for us.”  
  
“No, I will not!” WooHyun yelled, outraged. “You can’t make me commit murder! I am a doctor! I save lives, I do not kill people!”  
  
“You will not remember what you do here today,” Vic promised him.  
  
“You should do it…yourself,” Yunho said in a soft whisper, shocking all of them.  
  
The Joong spun around quickly to face the dying captain. The captain was still propped up against the tree. His eyes were barely open and heavily clouded with the black veil of approaching death.  
  
“You should not have awakened,” the panicked Joong whispered. SungGyu and WooHyun’s eyes were glued to the critically injured man.  
  
“Making others kill me…and pulling the trigger…it’s the same,” the weakened captain explained to the Joong.  
  
“No, it isn’t the same. I have to cling to that. I have to believe there is a difference,” Vic stated as she stepped closer to the captain. “Your mind is so closed…not like SooYoung’s, but still so closed. I did not notice you had returned to consciousness.”  
  
Yunho managed a small half smile and told her, “My family…they take very good care of me…they make me strong.”  
  
The Joong gasped, reaching up to cover her mouth as his emotions washed over her. “I’m sorry…you don’t know how much.”  
  
Yunho’s eyes closed and he told her with the last of his strength, “You do it…don’t make...” He never finished his sentence as the abyss pulled him back under.  
  
“I can’t…I don’t think I can. I do not wish to do this, but I must. I will though…I will not make another…I will grant you your last wish,” the distraught Joong told the unconscious man as she lifted the phaser and aimed it toward Yunho. Before she had time to fire the phaser a powerful blow slammed against her head, knocking her to the ground.  
  
SooYoung, who had gotten out of her restraints, had picked up a tree branch and with all her strength bashed the Joong’s head with it, to the surprise of everyone. The lieutenant then quickly picked up the phaser that had fallen out of the Joong’s hand, aimed it at the Joong and fired.  
  
  
************  
  
“You are not always a good man,” Siwon told Kangin as he sat down beside him on the beach.  
  
Kangin snorted and looked off in the distance where Sungmin was prowling the beach like a caged animal. “Neither are you.”  
  
“I am not cruel, though.”  
  
“Do you actually believe that?”  
  
“Yes, I do.”  
  
Kangin pointed at Sungmin. “Fucking him is the cruelest thing you have ever done.”  
  
Siwon tensed. “My relationship status with the lieutenant is none of your business.”  
  
“You are a straight man, my friend. Toying with that emotional wreck will only bring you both a heap of misery, and make him more pathetic than he already is.”  
  
“Like I said, it’s none of your business,” Siwon repeated.  
  
Kangin, whose eyes were still following Sungmin on the beach, explained, “He can kick my ass, and yours too, but he is one of the weakest men I know. A man does not bed his best friend’s husband eight days after that friend is assumed dead if he is strong. He does not stay in a one sided relationship with somebody for a year, if he has a thread of self respect.”  
  
Siwon exhaled a deep breath. “You should stop.”  
  
“You know it’s true, but it’s his weakness that draws you in. You don’t come from Earth; you come from a planet that believes in royalty and still believes females to be the weaker sex. If it weren’t for his weakness you would have no use for him,” Kangin told his tall friend. “You associate his weakness with femininity.”  
  
“That isn’t true.”  
  
“Remember on the planet? After you pulled him from the river? You were instantly protective of him. It wasn’t his shining personality that drew you in…because he never uttered a rational word, only words of misery and self hatred spoken in his delirium. I could see it from the start. He was beautiful and wounded and he needed you to rescue him, and that is what drew you to him.”  
  
Siwon closed his eyes, hating the truth of Kangin’s words. “But…I do feel for him.”  
  
“You want to save him; you need to be his hero. Let’s face it, on this ship there are a lot better heroes than you…knowing that must pierce that princely heart of yours. Sungmin, with all his weaknesses…how attractive you must find his weakness; but not him…it’s only his failings that attract you.”  
  
“No, he isn’t nearly as weak as you make him out to be,” Siwon insisted.  
  
Kangin chuckled and wrapped his arm around Siwon. “How you must hate his strong moments. Do you run from him? You should break this off before it goes too far.”  
  
“It’s already gone too far,” Siwon sighed and admitted.  
  
“That’s too bad, but it’s his own fault.”  
  
Siwon removed Kangin’s arm from around him. “No, it is my fault.”  
  
Kangin smirked and told the prince, “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Maybe we will never make it back home, maybe a beautiful woman will never turn your head…maybe he will be weak enough to keep you. He is attractive for a man. Maybe he will have a sex change for you; he’d probably do anything to keep you.”  
  
Siwon stood up and brushed the sand off his legs. “Like I said, you are not a nice man.”  
  
Kangin looked up at the prince. “Truth hurts.”  
  
Siwon looked out at Sungmin walking the beach. “It often does, but you take too much joy in hurting him.”  
  
“You should thank me.”  
  
“Thank you? Why would I thank you for hurting him?”  
  
“Isn’t that when you find him most attractive?” Kangin asked knowingly.  
  
Siwon clenched his fists and walked away, not sparing the other man another word.  
  
  
**********************************  
  
  
Changmin regretfully walked into the bedroom of his parent’s quarters after removing the necklace. He stopped at the doorway and watched two helpless souls, and one dying one. Sulli and Ryeowook both sat on opposite corners of the bed, unable to help the man curled up in the middle of it.  
  
Jaejoong’s breathing had slowed and he was completely still. Changmin took a step toward him, causing both Sulli and Ryeowook to look up at him. Changmin approached the bed and reached out a hand, his fingertips trailing across Jaejoong’s bare arm. The coolness of the skin startled him, causing him to pull his hand back quickly.  
  
Changmin turned around and faced the wall, avoiding both Sulli and Ryeowook’s hopeful gazes. Hopeful that he would say something comforting, but there was no hope left. Only cold skin and emptiness…his birth parent, that had always been so vibrantly alive, was void of that great energy that had always emanated from him. Changmin clenched his mouth shut and attempted to master the overwhelming sadness that engulfed him. Everything would soon be lost. Both his parents would be dead, and he would cease to exist.  
  
A soft hand wrapped around his wrist. “Changmin.”  
  
Changmin turned to face her, unable to deny her. He looked into her beautiful face. He felt her kindness, and her warmth…her wonderful warmth that had warmed him on his coldest of days. She did not ask anything of him. She just stood there showing her support and unwavering friendship.  
  
“Their battle…is ending. Yunho and Jaejoong…they will soon be gone, and I will be gone with them,” Changmin told her, his voice cracking as he watched tears glide down her cheeks.  
  
Ryeowook appeared beside Sulli, struggling with his own emotions, but still trying to comfort his old friend, “We know you did everything you could.”  
  
Changmin pulled free of Sulli’s touch and returned to Jaejoong’s side. He knelt down beside the bed and reached out and picked up his birth parent’s cold hand. “It was not enough. As hard as I tried, I could not find a way. I wish…I wish…I wish Yunho had been here,” Changmin said, unable to control the unbearable pain that filled him with knowing he had failed Yunho. “Yunho and his basic logic that bordered on illogic…his way of finding the simple answers that always evaded my complex way of thinking.”  
  
The other two said nothing, afraid of causing him more pain.  
  
“Yunho is dying somewhere down below us; I hope he isn’t alone. I really hope that he isn’t alone. Yunho wasn’t meant to be alone…he does not do well when he is alone…and I don’t do well without Yunho. It’s good that we will all be lost together. It’s better that way.”  
  
Changmin stared down at his birth parent, trembling, and continued, “In my future that will never be, or is it my past that never was? Jaejoong told me that he loved me and Yunho more than anything…he said I wouldn’t believe him, but I do. I believe him.”  
  
“Changmin, I’m sorry,” Sulli cried as she came up from behind him and wrapped her arms around the trembling man. “I am so sorry.”  
  
“You should not apologize for my failures. I was unable to find a way to transport them back to the ship, or making a shuttle capable of withstanding the unstable forces of the planet’s atmosphere. It was I who could not find a way to save them. The failure is all mine…do not apologize for my failures.”  
  
“Changmin, you know that isn’t true. If you couldn’t find away…then there wasn’t a way. This isn’t your fault,” Ryeowook told him as he wiped his tears away.  
  
“No, it isn’t your fault. They know you did everything you could. It isn’t your fault if the shuttle isn’t strong or big enough to withstand the atmosphere. It isn’t your fault,” Sulli told Changmin, hugging him tightly from behind.  
  
Changmin stiffened. He immediately let go of Jaejoong’s hand and stood up, causing Sulli to let go of him.  
  
“Changmin?” Ryeowook questioned as a familiar look appeared on the science officer’s face.  
  
“I’m a complete idiot!” Changmin declared, tapping his insignia and calling for Commander Yoochun as he hurried from the room.  
  
  
*********************  
  
SungGyu watched in amazement as the Joong collapsed to the ground after SooYoung hit her upside the head with a large tree branch. Then to SungGyu’s continued amazement SooYoung picked up the phaser the Joong had taken from Junsu and shot her with it.  
  
“Did you kill her?” SungGyu asked in awe as he gingerly stood up, mindful of his injured back now.  
  
SooYoung looked up from the fallen Joong to stare at the ensign. “No, I just stunned her. Should I kill her?”  
  
“No, don’t kill her,” WooHyun answered instinctively as he hurried towards the dying captain.  
  
“I don’t know,” SungGyu admitted. “If she regains consciousness she will use us against you.”  
  
“I know,” SooYoung agreed and stunned the Joong again. “You two stay ten feet away from me…if you come any closer I’m going to stun you.”  
  
“What about those other two women? They are both armed; if she awakens could she have them shoot you?” SungGyu asked as he looked toward the trees that surrounded them. “They could sneak up on us and we wouldn’t even know it.”  
  
SooYoung, who was attempting to control her nerves, nodded her head. “Believe me, I’ve been thinking about it. I’m a science officer, security isn’t my strong point.”  
  
“Lieutenant, you are doing a wonderful job so far; just keep doing what you are doing,” SungGyu said, highly impressed with the lieutenant. “Just keep stunning her.”  
  
SooYoung did as he suggested and stunned the Joong again. “But they heal fast. What if she adapts? Killing her might be the only way to secure Yunho’s safety.”  
  
“If we could get the guns away from the other two then it wouldn’t matter so much if she woke up,” SungGyu suggested.  
  
“How do we go about doing that?” SooYoung asked.  
  
“I don’t know…maybe her spell over them will be broken and they will return; you could just take them. That one woman won’t be pleased with her,” SungGyu said as he turned to face the woods looking for any signs the others were returning.  
  
“They both seemed reluctant to help her, even with her manipulations of their minds,” WooHyun said, speaking up as he tended to the captain.  
  
“They did seem hesitant,” SungGyu agreed, scanning the trees with his eyes.  
  
SooYoung sighed and admitted, “I know. It was as if in some things she did not completely control them. It’s almost as if she wanted them to think freely as much as possible.”  
  
“She didn’t totally abhor original thinking or she wouldn’t have kept you with her,” SungGyu pointed out, still scanning the wooded area surrounding them.  
  
“No,” SooYoung agreed as she stunned the Joong again.  
  
“She did seem regretful about having to kill your captain,” WooHyun told them. “I don’t think it is easy being a bonded Joong.”  
  
“Forgive me if I don’t feel sorry for her,” SungGyu snapped, not feeling the least bit sorry for the Joong.  
  
WooHyun shook his head as he studied the captain. “No, you wouldn’t. She was going to kill your captain.”  
  
“You tied my hands really loose,” SooYoung said to SungGyu, suddenly curious. “That had to be on purpose. How did you happen to manage that?”  
  
“I did exactly what she accused me of doing. I noticed that she couldn’t handle emotions well. She seemed to be really bothered by Ensign Junsu’s emotions; she even had to send him away. So I tried to cloud my mind with emotions,” SungGyu explained, still searching the woods for any movement.  
  
WooHyun looked up from the captain to eye the ensign, and asked, “Is that why you kept purposely aggravating your back injury, and is that why you kissed me?”  
  
SungGyu nodded his head. “Yeah, I thought my…distaste at having to kiss you again would be louder than my plot to make sure SooYoung could escape.”  
  
WooHyun winced, hurt at having been used by the other man. “I’m glad I could help.”  
  
SungGyu shrugged, feeling guilty suddenly. “Sorry, I’m being a jerk. It wasn’t bad. It was much more pleasant than twisting my back all the time. If we don’t make it off this planet I’m going to be permanently crippled. But that doesn’t matter; all that matters is that we still have a chance…the captain still has a chance.”  
  
“What about the…captain?” SooYoung asked as she stunned the Joong again.  
  
WooHyun shook his head. “He’s not long for this life…there is only so much I can do. Sometimes when people are dying they rally one last time; I think him telling the Joong to kill him herself…was his last rally.”  
  
SooYoung’s shoulders slumped. “That…that is terribly unfortunate, not after all of this…Commander Jung was always so nice.”  
  
“I don’t even remember him as a commander. It’s like he’s always been my captain,” SungGyu was telling them when something caught his eye. “Lieutenant SooYoung, right there! Somebody is coming!” SungGyu said, pointing towards the woods.  
  
“You better come out of there slowly, or I am going to stun you,” SooYoung threatened with the phaser aimed at the movement in the woods.  
  
“It’s me,” Junsu hollered back at her.  
  
“Is Taeyeon with you?” SooYoung yelled, questioning him.  
  
Junsu stepped out of the woods, nodding his head. Taeyeon was walking closely behind him. “She isn’t going to do anything though…she has her own mind now.”  
  
“Well, she is welcome to her mind as long as I can have her gun. Throw it over here, now,” SooYoung ordered. “I don’t need Vic waking up with her favorite puppet around to manipulate.”  
  
“I am not her puppet!” Taeyeon seethed and threw the gun at SooYoung’s feet. “Not any more.”  
  
“You need to leave, Taeyeon,” SooYoung told the woman she had spent so much time with. “I don’t know how long the stun is going to work on her. She’s too good at controlling you.”  
  
“I can’t leave without Tiffany. She and I were just as much her victims as you were,” Taeyeon told SooYoung.  
  
“I know that, but I can’t risk her waking up and taking control of you again,” SooYoung explained.  
  
“I understand that, but I can’t leave without Tiffany,” Taeyeon repeated.  
  
Junsu walked over to the captain and collapsed to the ground beside him. “Is he even still alive?”  
  
WooHyun reached out and patted Junsu’s arm and told him, “Just barely; his suffering will soon be over.”  
  
SooYoung was stunning the Joong again when movement in the woods caught her attention. “Tiffany, is that you?”  
  
“Yes,” came the familiar voice.  
  
“Tiffany, you need to give SooYoung your weapon…and then we are leaving,” Taeyeon yelled to the approaching woman. “We are getting the hell away from here.”  
  
Tiffany stepped into the clearing and threw her weapon at SooYoung’s feet. “I feel so weird,” Tiffany told them, reaching up to touch her head.  
  
SooYoung stunned the Joong again.  
  
“It’s like my mind…it’s like it is my own again,” Tiffany explained.  
  
Taeyeon walked up to Tiffany and told her, “It is yours; probably for the first time in…for who knows how long.”  
  
“You two need to go,” SooYoung told them. “If she wakes up…you are going to be the ones she goes after first.”  
  
“We are leaving, and thank you…thank you for freeing us,” Taeyeon told SooYoung. “If we ever meet again…I hope there isn’t a Joong in sight.”  
  
“No goodbye hugs?” Tiffany teased with a sad smile.  
  
“No hugs; nobody is coming within ten feet of me. I don’t trust her…I don’t trust her at all,” SooYoung informed them.  
  
Taeyeon grabbed Tiffany’s hand and told SooYoung, “You always were smart.”  
  
Tiffany looked down at Vic sadly and told them, “But she wasn’t all bad. I think she truly cared for us.”  
  
“Perhaps, but only like a master cares for its prize pets,” Taeyeon seethed.  
  
“Go,” SooYoung ordered. “Just go. I wish you luck.”  
  
“Bye, SooYoung, I always thought of you as a friend. I swear it,” Tiffany told SooYoung as Taeyeon pulled her toward the woods and away from them.  
  
SooYoung watched them leave, hoping they escaped the grasp of Hangeng and his empire.  
  
“Are you okay?” WooHyun asked Junsu, who had turned to watch the women leave.  
  
“No,” Junsu admitted, turning back to the captain. “It’s been a rough day.”  
  
“That’s putting it mildly,” SungGyu mumbled as he walked up to the captain’s other side and stood over WooHyun.  
  
SooYoung stunned the Joong again and asked, “So, I am guessing there isn’t any chance of a rescue?”  
  
Junsu sniffled, looked up at her and answered, “If there was a way…I would have thought Changmin would have found it by now.”  
  
“Changmin…” SooYoung repeated and then her eyes widened and she blurted out, “What about Minho? Is he alright? Is he alive? I heard almost all of the crew died.”  
  
“Minho is fine,” Junsu told her, smiling bitter-sweetly as he watched the relief flood her face as she realized her younger brother was alive. “Sulli, too.”  
  
SooYoung’s whole body shook as a great weight was lifted from her. “Oh, thank God. I was so worried about her. I feel terrible for being so happy…when Yunho is dying. It just doesn’t seem right.”  
  
The captain let out gasp, causing both the ensigns to jump. “I thought he had stopped breathing,” SungGyu admitted, still standing behind the sitting WooHyun.  
  
“It’s agonal breathing…it won’t be long now,” WooHyun told them. “His pulse has slowed.”  
  
“Captain, I will never forget you…no matter how long I live. I will name my first son after you. I am going to tell him what a wonderful namesake he has. How brave you were, and how you…I will never forget you,” Junsu vowed, his whole body wracked with grief.  
  
SungGyu blinked and swallowed down his own emotions as he looked down at the man that had placed such faith in him. “Me either, Captain. I won’t ever forget you. I’m sorry…that I couldn’t find a way to save you.”  
  
WooHyun looked up to the sky to say a silent pray for the departing soul when something caught his eye. He watched as the object in the sky got bigger and bigger. WooHyun reached up and tugged on SungGyu’s sleeve, causing the other man to look down at him. “Do you recognize that, by any chance,” WooHyun asked, using the hand that wasn’t holding on to SungGyu to point towards the object in the sky.  
  
SungGyu, Junsu and SooYoung all gazed up at the sky. SungGyu’s eyes widened as he barely managed to get out, “It’s the Expectations!”


	6. Lost to Time

“Lieutenant, I know we didn’t exactly part on good terms, but this is a little extreme don’t you think?” Lieutenant Donghae teased as the away team materialized on the transporter platform.  
  
SooYoung stared at Lieutenant Donghae speechless.  
  
Commander Kyuhyun, who was standing beside Donghae, grinned at the away team. “Lieutenant Choi, do you mind dropping your weapon?”  
  
“Oh, yes, sorry Sir!” a stunned SooYoung replied, lowering her phaser.  
  
“Where is the captain?” Junsu demanded, jumping to his feet. “He’s dying! What happened to him?”  
  
“We transported him directly to Jaejoong,” Commander Cho explained as he walked around from behind the transporter controls toward the away team.  
  
SungGyu stepped off the transporter platform to greet Commander Cho and explained, “Commander, I don’t know if it will be in time. He was all but dead. He may have been dead.”  
  
The look of worry on SungGyu and Junsu’s faces had Commander Cho hitting his insignia fast. “Doctor Cho, is the captain going to be alright?”  
  
There was a pause, and everybody tensed as they waited for the doctor to reply.  
  
“Yes; it’s going to take Jaejoong a while, but the captain’s life signs are already strengthening,” Doctor Cho replied. “It’s amazing…the power of their bond is just amazing. He was almost to the point that I would have declared him dead.”  
  
“Thank God,” Junsu cried out in joy.  
  
SungGyu slumped as his body was overcome with an immeasurable feeling of relief. It hadn’t all been in vain after all.  
  
“And who are you?” Commander Cho asked WooHyun, who was gawking at them all in disbelief. WooHyun had traveled to different worlds, but never had he experienced anything like being beamed aboard a ship.  
  
“He’s with us,” Junsu said, quickly grabbing WooHyun by the arm in his excitement. “His name is WooHyun. He’s a doctor and without him the captain would have been dead a long time ago.”  
  
“It’s true,” SungGyu quickly concurred. “It’s a long story, but we owe him…a lot.”  
  
“Ensign, I can’t wait to read your report,” Commander Cho told SungGyu. “But Commander Yoochun has requested your immediate presence in Engineering. Entering this planet’s atmosphere wasn’t easy, and exiting it isn’t going to be any easier. Our dilithium reserves are dangerously low.”  
  
“Yes, Sir,” SungGyu replied, quickly heading toward the transporter room doors. They whooshed open and he passed Minho and Sulli on his way out.  
  
Commander Cho watched with pleased eyes as the two engulfed the long lost SooYoung in hugs.  
  
Junsu stepped off the transporter platform with WooHyun, smiling at the Choi siblings and their cousin.  
  
“I think it is time to beam up the rest of the away party, Lieutenant,” Commander Cho told Donghae.  
  
Donghae nodded his head, also watching the tearful reunion of the Choi family. “Yes, Sir.”  
  
Commander Cho’s insignia beeped, causing Kyuhyun to quickly reach up and tap it, “Commander Cho, here.”  
  
“Sir,” responded the voice of Lieutenant Yesung. “We have just received a distress call from the Planet Eternity. Princess Claudia reports there is a large meteor on a collision course with the planet. She says it is large enough to wipe out all life on Eternity.”  
  
  
***********************************************  
  
Hours after his life had been all but lost, Yunho opened his eyes. He inhaled a deep breath, feeling his lungs fully expand without even a twinge of discomfort. Most of his stay on the planet had been a blur of pain with only short episodes of lucidity, but the struggle to keep breathing had been a constant battle. Even while completely unconscious and teetering on the edge of life and death, the bond had demanded he keep breathing.  
  
He felt the warmth of Jaejoong both mentally and physically. He turned his head to see Jaejoong snuggled up next to him, lost in a deep sleep. Jaejoong had always told him it was easy to heal him, but Yunho knew that even the powerful Joong had to be exhausted after dragging him back from the great depths he had fallen into.  
  
Yunho smiled as he felt that familiar warm fuzzy feeling filling his head, letting him know his mate was awake.  _“Jaejoong, what have I told you about reading my mind?”_  
  
Jaejoong sat up, slowly stretching out his arms above his head, and gave Yunho a sleepy smile.  _“I had to make sure you weren’t brain damaged.”_  
  
Yunho smiled back at him.  _“No more than usual.”_  
  
Yunho reached up to hit his insignia, only to find he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He arched a suggestive eyebrow that had the Joong immediately denying,  _“It wasn’t me. This is the first time I have been awake since they returned you to me. I am not going to lie; I thought we were both goners”_  
  
Yunho sat up, looking around their bedroom.  _“So they sent me directly to you?”_  
  
 _“Yes, Ryeowook isn’t stupid.”_  
  
 _“No,”_  Yunho concurred.  _“The last thing I remember was pleading…there was a Joong on the planet.”_  The fuzzy feeling in Yunho’s head returned, causing Yunho to frown.  _“Is there any use in me telling you not to?”_  
  
“No,” Jaejoong said aloud as he read all of Yunho’s secrets. “This way is much faster. Plus, when you almost kill us by going on a mission without me, you don’t get a say.”  
  
Yunho shook his head, but conceded Jaejoong had a point,“Well, when you put it that way…”  
  
 _“I am going to kill her…”_  Jaejoong suddenly declared mentally, looking pissed;  _“…that sorry excuse for a Joong.”_  
  
Yunho smiled at his mate and climbed out of bed.  _“First Hyun Joong and now her; you are going to personally be responsible for wiping out the whole Joong race if you aren’t careful.”_  
  
Jaejoong reached across the bed, grabbing a hold of Yunho’s wrist before his mate could step away from the bed. “ _Yunho, don’t_.”  
  
Yunho sighed, looking down at Jaejoong.  _“Jaejoong, I am so grateful to you and I love you so much, but the ship is in warp…I can feel it. But she feels off, as if the engines are straining. I have to find out what is going on.”_  
  
“No, please don’t. Stay with me…” Jaejoong pleaded aloud, “…just this once.”  
  
“Jaejoong.”  
  
“Please,” Jaejoong begged, as he scooted to the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms around Yunho’s waist, holding him in place. “Just once, put me first.”  
  
Yunho closed his eyes and ran both his hands through Jaejoong’s hair. “I think I put you first all the time. I can’t help but remember a little incident on Val—”  
  
“No,” Jaejoong interrupted, objecting as he lifted his head to stare up at Yunho’s face. “That wasn’t the same. I was influencing you…stay with me…please. I need to be with you.”  
  
Yunho lowered a hand to Jaejoong’s lips, tracing them with a fingertip. “You know…” Yunho paused as he stared into Jaejoong’s big blue eyes.  
  
“Please, make love to me.”  
  
Years of training wrestled with his desire to give in to the lover he owed everything to. Countless responsibilities rattled off in his head. Yunho was well attuned to his ship and he knew from the feel of her hurtling through space, that something was terribly wrong. “You know I can’t…you know why I can’t, not now.”  
  
Jaejoong lowered his gaze and pressed his face into Yunho’s stomach, pleading telepathically,  _“Please, I won’t influence you…but I need to be with you.”_  
  
Jaejoong’s mouth moving against his stomach sent quivers down his spine.  _“I’m sorry, but I can’t,”_  Yunho apologized, pushing away from his lover.  
  
Yunho backed away from his tempting mate, and moved toward the door. “Jaejoong,” Yunho called aloud, beseeching the Joong to understand.  
  
Jaejoong said nothing; his eyes downcast, avoiding Yunho’s gaze.  
  
The continued silence struck Yunho harder than barbed words ever could. Yunho stepped forward, taking Jaejoong’s chin in his hand and tilting his head up until big, blue, tearful eyes met his.  
  
Yunho flinched as if he had been hit by a powerful punch to the gut. Responsibilities fell away as a deeper commitment, one that had spanned many life times, rose up taking priority. Yunho bent down and gently kissed his lover in apology.  
  
Jaejoong pulled away from the kiss, studying Yunho intently both with his mind and his eyes. Jaejoong then slid farther back on the bed, holding out his hand, beckoning for Yunho to follow.  
  
Without a word between them, Yunho followed after his him. He found Jaejoong’s moist lips again, pressed his lover back down to the mattress and slowly rejoiced in being alive.  
  
********  
  
  
“Are you lost?”  
  
WooHyun, who had been snooping through sickbay, jumped and swung around quickly to face Dr. Cho. “No, just really nosey…this place is awesome. The medical technology alone is amazing.”  
  
“That it is,” Dr. Cho told Woohyun. “I was just a little kid from a backwards planet when a Star Fleet doctor beamed down to my world and saved Mr. Button’s life, amazing me beyond words. Right then and there I decided I had to become a Star Fleet doctor.”  
  
WooHyun smiled at Dr. Cho. “I think I like this Star Fleet. Do they just go around saving people all the time?”  
  
“Well, we try, but actually it wasn’t saving a human that set me on this life path,” Ryeowook admitted.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“Mr. Buttons was a goose.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
“But Mr. Buttons is a story for another day. Your presence is requested, so follow me,” Dr. Cho instructed the other doctor.  
  
“Okay,” WooHyun agreed as he followed Dr. Cho into a private exam room that held both Ensign SungGyu and Ensign Junsu, causing WooHyun to smile in relief. “It’s good to see you two!”  
  
Ensign Junsu smiled back at WooHyun.  
  
SungGyu put down a tablet computer that he had been working on, and asked WooHyun, “You haven’t been causing any trouble, have you?”  
  
“Never,” WooHyun denied. He walked up to Junsu’s bedside and asked, “How are you doing?”  
  
Junsu folded his arms, instantly defensive, and declared, “I am fine.”  
  
WooHyun turned a questioning gaze to SungGyu, who explained, “He’s angry.”  
  
“I won’t give him permission to go to the debriefing,” Ryeowook clarified for WooHyun. “This is going to be Junsu’s own private room.”  
  
“I’m fine,” Junsu insisted. “She was hot!”  
  
“She was hot,” WooHyun agreed, causing both Dr. Cho and SungGyu to give him dubious looks. “Well, she was…if you like that sort of thing.”  
  
“I don’t,” Dr. Cho answered.  
  
“But I do!” Junsu protested.  
  
Dr. Cho placed both his hands on his hips and informed Junsu. “Ensign Junsu, I am really glad you are not suffering any of the adverse affects of being raped. But you  _were_  raped,  _and_  mentally manipulated by a Joong. You are not leaving this room. Do you understand me?”  
  
Junsu plopped back down against his pillows, his arms still folded, and grumbled, “Yes, Doctor.”  
  
SungGyu slid off his bed and announced, “I think we will be going now.”  
  
“Is your back better?” WooHyun asked.  
  
“Completely healed,” SungGyu assured him.  
  
Ryeowook snapped his fingers causing SungGyu to quickly look at him. “Do not think that I have forgotten that you went to Engineering with your back in that condition. It was completely idiotic.”  
  
“Sorry, Sir, but I jump when Commander Yoochun—”  
  
Dr. Cho scoffed, interrupting him. “Ensign SungGyu, I know for a fact that you dislike even the smallest amount of pain, so whatever is inducing this noble self-sacrificing behavior of yours, please put an end to it.”  
  
“I do hate pain, Sir…I just hate dying more,” SungGyu explained.  
  
“Commander Yoochun would not have…” Ryeowook paused, realizing what a horrible mood the Chief Engineer was in. “You better get to that briefing.”  
  
SungGyu smiled back at Dr. Cho, and turned to WooHyun. “You are coming with me; your presence at the debriefing has also been requested.”  
  
“What do I say?”  
  
“You don’t say anything, unless they ask you. Just be honest,” SungGyu explained as WooHyun followed him out of sickbay. “You get to meet most of the power players on the ship, now.”  
  
“I don’t think I want to meet Commander Yoochun,” WooHyun admitted, following SungGyu out of sickbay. From what he had heard about the engineer, he didn’t exactly sound like a nice person.  
  
“Yeah, he was in a foul mood, and he will be in an even fouler one now. Our dilithium supply is gone, we almost had to jettison the warp core, and he won’t be happy about what happened to Ensign Junsu.”  
  
“Are they close?” WooHyun asked as they traveled down the corridor.  
  
“I am not an expert on them. I spent more time with Junsu today than I have during my entire time on this ship; but Commander Yoochun…he openly admits to desiring Ensign Junsu,” SungGyu explained as they entered the lift.  
  
“Is everybody on this ship a homosexual?” WooHyun asked as the lift took off toward the bridge.  
  
SungGyu shrugged his shoulders. “No, but since all the women died…it’s become a lot gayer.”  
  
“All the women died,” WooHyun repeated, horrified, as the lift opened and deposited them on the bridge. “That is ho—”  
  
SungGyu watched the doctor with amusement as he took in his first sight of the bridge. “Impressive, I know,” SungGyu told the doctor as he pushed him toward the conference room.  
  
They entered the conference room to find that they were the last ones to arrive. They quickly took the two empty seats.  
  
“Ensign, is your back feeling better?” Commander Cho asked Ensign SungGyu. Commander Cho sat beside a fuming Commander Yoochun, whose mood had only gotten darker after reading the reports from the away team members.  
  
“Yes, completely healed thanks to Dr. Cho.”  
  
Commander Cho smiled and then told all of them, “This is going to be an informal debriefing. Lieutenant Lee, what can you tell us?”  
  
“The planet Eternity is safe; the meteor that was on a collision course with it has been successfully destroyed,” Lieutenant Sungmin explained. “Only small fragments of the meteor remain.”  
  
“And they will immediately burn up upon entering the planet’s atmosphere,” Changmin added from his seat, across from Commander Cho. He was wearing the pink crystal necklace; the heightened emotions on the ship had given him a headache.  
  
Commander Cho let out a breath he had not realized he was holding. They had not been sure they would make it in time to save the planet. “Well, that’s good news.”  
  
“What about the ship?” Yoochun demanded. “We all but destroyed the ship’s engines in the race here to save the planet. Our dilithium supplies are completely depleted. We are stranded here.”  
  
Commander Cho turned to Commander Yoochun, who had been giving him hell since he ordered the Expectations to set a course to Eternity at maximum wrap after they left the atmosphere of Kanzi. He said, correcting the moody commander, “We are not stranded. We still have our impulse drive.”  
  
“Sub-light speed,” Yoochun sneered as if they were the most disgusting words he had ever heard. “Why don’t we just get out and push the ship to Trysor; it would be just as fast.”  
  
“You are more than welcome to try,” an irritated Commander Cho told Yoochun, causing the other man to frown, but he kept quiet for the moment.  
  
“The meteor was not a natural occurrence,” Lieutenant Jung stated. “It was manipulated in this direction.”  
  
“A trap laid for us?” Commander Cho asked. “Or perhaps the Guardian wishes to speak with Jaejoong again.”  
  
“It does seem that putting the planet in danger is its favorite way of getting our attention,” Sungmin added.  
  
“The meteor and the stars suddenly going nova…what are the odds that these two incidents are connected?” Commander Cho asked.  
  
“Extremely unlikely,” Changmin answered. “Changing the course of a meteor to intercept with Eternity does not require the same level of technology.”  
  
“Agreed,” Yoochun replied.  
  
“Until Jaejoong is finished healing the captain, we will just wait. If the Guardian is responsible for the meteor, it will only deal with Jaejoong, so we will wait until he emerges. We will all stay aboard the ship, in case it isn’t the Guardian, but instead a trap,” Commander Cho told them.  
  
“Your hypothesis that Jaejoong is the only one the Guardian will communicate with is highly flawed. I have never attempted to communicate with the Guardian, and it has spoken to both of my parents. I also passed through it as a young child. It is highly likely that the Guardian would respond to me,” Changmin informed them.  
  
“Your father would kick our ass if we let you go anywhere near the Guardian, and who knows what your momma would do,” Yoochun informed Changmin quickly.  
  
“Lieutenant, you going down to the talk to the Guardian is not an option,” Commander Cho ordered.  
  
Changmin arched his eyebrows and told Commander Cho, “I did not say I wished to do so; I was just explaining why your assumption was incorrect.”  
  
“Yes, thank you for correcting me,” Commander Cho said, turning to Ensign SungGyu. “Your report on what happened on the planet is distressing.”  
  
“We should have slapped the necklace on that bitch and beamed her aboard the ship,” Yoochun growled. “And then let his royal highness deal with her.”  
  
“Commander, I think that would be a little harsh. Star Fleet is not in the habit of exacting vengeance,” Sungmin told Yoochun.  
  
Yoochun glared at Lieutenant Lee and snapped, “Star Fleet also frowns on officers having sex on away missions. We all know what you were doing while the captain was fighting for his life, and Ensign Junsu was getting raped.”  
  
“Commander!” Commander Cho said, attempting to rein Commander Yoochun in.  
  
Ensign Kangin, who had written a very lengthy and detailed report, attempted to control his smile as he sipped on his coffee. Siwon, who was sitting beside Ensign Kangin, did not lower his gaze or show any sign of embarrassment.  
  
“There wasn’t anything I could have done, Commander,” Lieutenant Lee replied defensively.  
  
“How do you know that, Lieutenant?” Commander Yoochun demanded. “Did you attempt anything?”  
  
“We were stranded thousands of kilometers away from them on a deserted island,” Lieutenant Sungmin tried to explain calmly.  
  
“You should have tried something; even if you had failed…at least you would have tried. If it weren’t for the actions of a young and inexperienced ensign, a local, and Lieutenant SooYoung the captain would be dead right now,” Yoochun threw right back at Sungmin, having no mercy on his friend.  
  
Changmin stood up abruptly, accidently bumping into the table, and told Commander Cho, “If this briefing is going to deteriorate into personal attacks, my time would be better spent in my labs collecting useful data that can provide us with real answers.”  
  
Commander Cho looked up at Changmin, startled by the man’s behavior, and stated, “The personal attacks are ending now.”  
  
Changmin clutched the edge of the table with his hands and insisted, “I still need to go.”  
  
“Is it urgent?” Commander Cho asked.  
  
“Yes,” Changmin answered. “I have a new theory that I need to test immediately.”  
  
“You’re dismissed, then.”  
  
Lieutenant Jung turned around to leave the room, but stopped and looked back at Commander Cho and told him, “Thank you, Kyuhyun.”  
  
Commander Cho’s eyes widened, surprised by Changmin using his given name in a debriefing, but just smiled and told his friend, “You are welcome. Good luck with your theory.”  
  
“Thank you, I shall need it,” Changmin replied, and then quickly exited the conference room, moving across the bridge to the lift. When he entered the lift, he did not order it to immediately move; instead, after the doors closed he asked the computer, “Computer, who is in sickbay at this time?”  
  
“Dr. Cho, Lieutenant SooYoung, Ensign Kim Junsu, Ensign Choi Minho, and Civilian Choi Sulli are in sickbay at this time,” the computer promptly answered.  
  
“Computer, is Ensign Junsu in a private room?”  
  
“Yes,” the computer answered.  
  
Changmin hit his insignia and ordered, “Ensign Minho, I realize you are rejoicing in your sister’s return, but if you could manage to put your illogical human emotions aside long enough to do your job it would be most appreciated.”  
  
“Yes, Sir,” was Ensign Minho’s immediate reply.  
  
“I want you in the astrophysics lab immediately. I want answers, Ensign,” Changmin said in his most curt tone. “And I want them now.”  
  
“On my way, Sir.”  
  
Changmin tapped his insignia off and waited a few minutes and then ordered the lift to take him to deck twelve. He exited the lift and hurried toward sickbay.  
  
He entered sickbay and immediately strolled into Dr. Cho’s office. Dr. Cho, who was just getting up from his desk, smiled at Changmin and informed him, “We have all our chicks back in the nest, finally.”  
  
Changmin arched his eyebrows at the doctor’s wording and said, “A most inaccurate saying, but I have come to expect such things from you.”  
  
Ryeowook walked to Changmin, still smiling. “You just love my Baylor sayings, don’t pretend you don’t.”  
  
Changmin looked down at the shorter man fondly and informed him, “I have always valued our friendship, and all your odd habits and adages. I hope in time you and Kyuhyun truly find your way back to each other.”  
  
“We will,” Ryeowook told Changmin, looking up at him, clearly startled by his sentiments.  
  
“I also must apologize,” Changmin told the doctor.  
  
Ryeowook looked even more surprised and asked, “For what?”  
  
Changmin slipped a hand up to the doctor’s neck and pressed a pressure point causing the doctor to immediately lose consciousness. Changmin easily caught the doctor, gently lowering him to the floor and told him, “For that.”  
  
He then left Dr. Cho’s office and approached the room occupied by Lieutenant SooYoung. The doors to the room whooshed open, allowing him entry. He found the lieutenant sitting up in the bed, with Sulli sitting beside her.  
  
Sulli turned to face the science officer, immediately chastising him, “Changmin, you are so mean to make Minho go back to work. It wasn’t very nice at all.”  
  
“No, it was not,” Changmin agreed as he approached the bed.  
  
“You should be ashamed,” Sulli told him.  
  
Changmin smiled back at her. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I feel no shame.”  
  
Sulli shook her head and turned to SooYoung, and then back to Changmin. “Did you come here to check on SooYoung? I will forgive you if you did. Doesn’t she look awesome?”  
  
“She is as aesthetically pleasing as before,” Changmin replied, indifferently.  
  
SooYoung’s mouth fell open and she gently punched her cousin on the upper arm for asking the science officer such a question.  
  
Sulli turned back to the annoyed SooYoung, explaining, “Don’t be upset. Changmin and I are good friends. Plus, it’s very true. You are beautiful…just like Changmin is very handsome. You two are very attractive…just imagine what a lovely couple you would make.”  
  
SooYoung did her best to ignore her cousin and asked Changmin, “Sir, I apologize for my cousin…is there something you require from me?”  
  
“Lieutenant, you need not apologize for you cousin, I am well accustomed to her; but I do require you assistance.”  
  
“Anything, Sir,” SooYoung replied.  
  
“I require you to come with me,” Changmin explained. “We need to speak alone.”  
  
“Do you?” Sulli asked excitedly as she turned back to SooYoung and winked.  
  
SooYoung pushed Sulli off the bed and informed Changmin, “Sir, I am restricted to sickbay.”  
  
“Doctor Cho will not object,” Changmin assured her as he grabbed Sulli by the hand pulling her closer to him. “It is an urgent matter.”  
  
“Yes, Sir,” SooYoung agreed, climbing out of bed wearing the standard gray clothing sickbay had provided her with.  
  
Sulli was beaming at the thought of a romantic encounter between her cousin and Changmin. “Changmin, I am so proud of you! That’s the way to take the initiative.”  
  
Changmin did not bother hiding his amusement as he reached up with his free hand to cup Sulli’s cheek, and told her, “You are deluded.”  
  
Sulli frowned. “Deluded?”  
  
“Very much so…” Changmin told her, pulling her into a hug, “…but also strangely endearing.”  
  
A surprised Sulli looked over Changmin’s shoulder to her cousin who was staring at them dumbfounded. “Changmin, you are such a hugger now.”  
  
“Only with you,” Changmin explained, pressing her closer to him. “Sulli, you must stay in this room. Do not leave it until SooYoung returns.”  
  
“Okay,” Sulli answered as Changmin released her from the hug.  
  
Changmin turned toward SooYoung and told her, “If you will please follow me, Lieutenant.”  
  
SooYoung nodded her head, still amazed at the sight she had just witnessed, and followed Changmin out of the room.  
  
“Where are we going?” SooYoung asked Changmin.  
  
Changmin paused, watching as the doors shut, closing Sulli off from them. “My conception is upon us, and if you do not assist me I will be lost to time.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Follow me,” Changmin ordered as he quickly headed out of sickbay.  
  
SooYoung rushed to keep up with him. “Your conception?”  
  
“You are aware that I am from the future?”  
  
“Yes, of course I am.”  
  
“I can not explain everything to you, I just require that you trust me,” Changmin informed her as they exited sickbay.  
  
“Why me?” SooYoung asked as she followed Changmin down the corridor.  
  
“I do not believe Jaejoong will be able to read your mind, and you are intelligent enough to grasp the importance of my plan without knowing all the minor details. In short, I will not have to waste precious time explaining things to you.”  
  
“Okay,” SooYoung explained as they hurried through the corridor. “Where are we going?”  
  
“We are beaming down to the planet Eternity. I must reach the Guardian of Time before my conception occurs,” Changmin explained.  
  
“Vic spoke of a Guardian of Time. A great being that was a portal to all of time, is that the Guardian you speak of?”  
  
“Yes,” Changmin informed her. “Although I believe there are many of them, and they are all connected.”  
  
“And if you reach this guardian in time…you will not be lost?”  
  
“No,” Changmin answered as they reached the lift. “Deck 18,” Changmin ordered.  
  
“Not the main transporter room?” SooYoung asked, entering the lift.  
  
“No, I am sure it is being closely monitored. The emergency transporter room on deck 18 has been closed off since our arrival in this galaxy.”  
  
“How do you know you will not blink out of existence even if you reach the guardian in time?” SooYoung asked as they exited the lift.  
  
“I will explain more when we reach the planet,” Changmin explained as they hurried to the transporter room.  
  
“Of course,” SooYoung agreed, realizing everything said on a star ship was being recorded. “You do not want others to know of your plans.”  
  
“No,” Changmin answered, entering the transporter room. “They would require lengthy explanations and I do not have the time to spare.”  
  
SooYoung watched as Changmin went to the transporter controls, working quickly to implant a code into the transporter system. SooYoung nodded her head, realizing what he was doing, “You do not want to be beamed back to the ship or followed.”  
  
“Exactly,” Changmin explained, working quickly. “Not until my conception has taken place.”  
  
“Oh,” SooYoung said in understanding. “And if it does not take place?”  
  
“I will cease to exist either way,” Changmin informed her, stepping away from the controls.  
  
SooYoung followed him onto the platform, since Changmin had programmed the transporter to immediately beam the both of them down to the planet.  
  
They materialized in front the Guardian of Time. SooYoung stared at the portal in amazement. “Are you going to go through it?”  
  
“No,” Changmin answered as he reached up and removed the necklace from his neck.  
  
SooYoung turned back to Changmin and questioned, “No?”  
  
Changmin quickly handed her the necklace.  
  
“No; you must listen to me. I do not have much time left. It is imperative that you follow my every instruction.”  
  
SooYoung’s eyes widened as she looked as Changmin, who was starting to fade away. “Tell me, quickly.”  
  
*********************  
  
Yunho awoke, smiling.  
  
Jaejoong, who was sitting up and leaning against the headboard of the bed, just shook his head as his satisfied lover rolled over on the opposite end of bed.  
  
Yunho stretched out his hands, smiling as he lifted his head to look at his mate, who didn’t look half as pleased. “Was it not good for you?”  
  
“It was fine.”  
  
Yunho grinned up at Jaejoong. “Sometimes I like plain old vanilla sex.”  
  
“You do realize that sex with me is never plain. I amplify the pleasure tenfold,” Jaejoong reminded his lover.  
  
“I was referring to the positioning, but you are right…if I had sex with anybody else, it would be terribly unsatisfying.”  
  
“And suicidal, since I would kill you.”  
  
“You’d just kill yourself in process.”  
  
“That’s why I said it’d be suicidal.”  
  
“Oh, I get it,” Yunho replied, sitting up. He picked up one of Jaejoong’s feet, and began massaging it. “What do you say about another go?”  
  
Jaejoong shook his head and asked his pheromone influenced mate, “What about your ship?”  
  
“My ship,” Yunho repeated, tilting his head. “We are not in warp anymore. I should be checking on it, but if you insisted on me staying…I’d have to stay.”  
  
Jaejoong reached across the bed to the nightstand, opened the drawer and pulled out a hypospray that Ryeowook had supplied them with. “I don’t think so.”  
  
Yunho frowned, feeling unreasonably hurt, but he decided to take Jaejoong’s lack of enthusiasm as a challenge. Yunho dropped Jaejoong’s foot and suggestively licked his fingers. He then crawled over Jaejoong and slid the wet fingers up Jaejoong’s inner thigh. “I know your—”  
  
Yunho’s insignia chirped, causing Yunho, who had just lowered his head to follow the path that his fingers had left with his tongue, to complain, “Oh, bugger.”  
  
Jaejoong picked up the insignia that was resting on the bedside table, pushed Yunho away, and tossed the insignia at his mate. “Time to go back to work.”  
  
Yunho tapped the insignia and Commander Cho’s extremely worried voice was instantly heard, “Captain, are you…functioning?”  
  
“I am in fine working order, even if somebody doesn’t appreciate my efforts,” Yunho grumbled, causing Jaejoong to roll his eyes.  
  
“Sir, Changmin has beamed down to the planet.”  
  
Jaejoong tensed, and told Yunho, “We are in orbit around Eternity.”  
  
“How the hell did we get to Eternity? I am going to beat that boy’s ass when I get a hold of him. He is not allowed to play with the Guardian,” Yunho told both Jaejoong and Commander Cho.  
  
“Sir?” Commander Cho asked over the communication link, not prepared for such a response from the captain.  
  
Jaejoong, who was still holding the hypospray, moved toward Yunho, who immediately dropped the insignia and spread open his arms for Jaejoong, and confidently told his mate, “I knew you couldn’t resist me.”  
  
 _“You are getting cut off,”_  an amused Jaejoong told Yunho mentally as he injected his mate with the hypospray, and the pheromones immediately left Yunho’s system. Yunho’s eyes widened and he grabbed for his insignia, ordering, “Commander, beam him back to the ship immediately!”  
  
“I can’t, Sir,” Commander Cho explained, “He has disabled the transporter controls. I am in the transporter room now with Lieutenant Donghae, trying to gain access to the transporters.”  
  
“I need you to tell me everything that has been going on,” Yunho told Commander Cho as he quickly got out of bed and hurried to the dressing chamber.  
  
Jaejoong ignored Yunho’s conversation with the commander, not waiting for verbal explanations as he scanned the minds of the crew.  
  
Commander Cho continued to report to Yunho as the captain exited the dressing chamber. As soon as Yunho stepped out of the dressing chamber, Jaejoong entered.  
  
Yunho stopped Commander Cho’s detailed explanation to ask in disbelief, “He did the Vulcan Nerve Pinch on Ryeowook?”  
  
“Yes, Sir,” Commander Cho answered. “Then—”  
  
“He took your Lieutenant SooYoung with him,” Jaejoong interrupting Commander Cho to tell Yunho as he followed Yunho out of their quarters. “He knew I would have sensed him plotting with anybody else…she must really be closed to me.”  
  
“I don’t understand what is going on in his head. I thought he was back to being like his old self…was he just fooling us?” Yunho asked Jaejoong, after ending the conversation with Commander Cho.  
  
“No, he wasn’t fooling us. He couldn’t fool me…not without that blasted necklace on. He had control of his emotions and his behavior was not erratic,” Jaejoong insisted as they got on the lift. “He must have had a reason.”  
  
Yunho shook his head. “He knows neither one of us want him near the Guardian. I gave him an order to never go near it.”  
  
Jaejoong swallowed down his fears as they exited the lift and hurried toward the transporter room. He had read both Sulli and Ryeowook’s mind, realizing that Changmin seemed to be telling them goodbye.  
  
Yunho and Jaejoong entered the transporter room to find Donghae and Commander Cho at the control panels trying to gain control of the transporters. “Sir, he intended to lock us out, and he did a fine job of it,” Donghae told to the captain.  
  
“Of course he did,” Yunho answered as he moved toward the controls. “When doesn’t he do an excellent job?”  
  
“I should have known…there was something off about him at the debriefing, but he’s been off since he found out he was half Joong,” Commander Cho said, moving aside for Yunho. “I should have questioned him further.”  
  
“You couldn’t have known,” Yunho told Commander Cho as he began to attempt to gain control of the transporters. The minute Yunho typed in his command code, the transporters began to function properly.  
  
“That was weird,” Donghae exclaimed, staring at the captain. “You didn’t do anything.”  
  
“I just entered my command code,” Yunho agreed, paling as he read the coordinates to where Changmin had beamed too. “He went directly to the Guardian.”  
  
Jaejoong quickly stepped onto the transporter platform and Yunho realized for the first time that Jaejoong was wearing his blue uniform. “Jaejoong, you are not—”  
  
“Like hell I am not,” Jaejoong informed his mate. “If you think I’m ever allowing you to beam down anywhere without me again, you’ve lost your mind.”  
  
Yunho grudgingly met Jaejoong on the platform. “I swear you’d better behave; the people of Eternity are a noble race, and a very strict religious people! They don’t need any of our shows.”  
  
“Yunho, I am only concerned for Changmin at the time being,” Jaejoong informed his mate. “The Guardian will want to deal with me.”  
  
Yunho exhaled, knowing Jaejoong spoke the truth. Yunho turned back to face Donghae and ordered, “Beam us down.”  
  
Yunho and Jaejoong materialized in front of the Guardian to find SooYoung standing ten feet away from it, alone, holding on to the pink crystal necklace.  
  
“Where is he?” Jaejoong demanded as he rushed toward SooYoung.  
  
“He…he faded away,” SooYoung answered, still shocked by what she had just witnessed. “He just faded away.”  
  
Yunho, who had been approaching SooYoung, came to a dead stop. “He faded away?”  
  
“Yes, Sir,” SooYoung answered. “He just faded away. One minute he was standing next to me and the next…he just started to fade away.”  
  
“I don’t trust her,” Jaejoong seethed, eyeing the woman suspiciously. “Her mind is completely blank to me.”  
  
“Just because you can’t read her mind doesn’t mean we can’t trust her,” a worried Yunho told his mate. “We would both be dead right now it weren’t for the actions of Lieutenant SooYoung.”  
  
Jaejoong flung his head around to glare at Yunho. “I don’t care! I still don’t trust her! Something isn’t right!”  
  
“Well, I do trust her!”  
  
“Guardian, I demand that you answer me,” Jaejoong shouted, pushing past SooYoung and Yunho to face the Guardian. “Where is Changmin?”  
  
The booming voice of the Guardian answered, “The life that will someday be Jung Changmin exists inside of you, Jaejoong of the Royal House of Joong.”  
  
Jaejoong whimpered softly as the Guardian confirmed what he had suspected since he had awoken earlier, “You did not send him somewhere? He did not pass through you? He did not travel to another time or reality?”  
  
“The last beings to travel through me were you and your mate,” The Guardian answered.  
  
Yunho gently took SooYoung’s hand and asked in an apprehensive voice, “You said he faded away?”  
  
SooYoung nodded her head, and explained, “He said his conception was upon him, and if he didn’t get here he would be forever lost to time.”  
  
“So he was trying to pass through the Guardian, but he didn’t make it in time?” Yunho asked, horrified by the thought.  
  
SooYoung shook her head. “No, he never went near it. He never called for it. I don’t think he wanted to pass through it.”  
  
Yunho let go of SooYoung’s hand and turned toward Jaejoong. “Are you really pregnant?”  
  
“I think so,” Jaejoong answered. “The insanity of the shifting is gone.”  
  
“So Changmin…is lost. Lost to time?” Yunho repeated. “He must have wanted to travel through it…why else would he come here?”  
  
SooYoung looked anguished as she told Yunho, “I don’t think he was trying to go anywhere. I think he just wanted to be here.”  
  
“With you?” Jaejoong demanded, casting accusing eyes on her.  
  
SooYoung nodded her head.  
  
“Why would he take you? It doesn’t make sense,” Jaejoong demanded. “You hold no special meaning to him.”  
  
Yunho walked up to Jaejoong and took him by the arm, attempting to calm his mate. “Jaejoong, he must have had his reasons. He always has…had his reasons.”  
  
“He wanted me to tell you something,” SooYoung confided in them.  
  
Jaejoong, who was unaccustomed to having to wait for answers, snapped impatiently, “Spit it out already.”  
  
“He wanted you to know, that he isn’t lost…not really. He’s just back to his beginning,” SooYoung told them both, but avoided the glare of the Joong and looked only at Yunho. “He doesn’t want you to be sad…you didn’t lose him. The life he spent with you was out of order…and now you have simply arrived back to his beginning.”  
  
Yunho’s eyes filled with tears, knowing the words she spoke were the truth. “But…it just seems…so…like…he’s gone…it feels like…he’s lost…gone, like he died.”  
  
Yunho’s pain filled Jaejoong, adding to his own. The Joong wrapped his arms around Yunho. “She’s right…he was right, it isn’t the end. It’s just his beginning.”  
  
“But…he’s gone,” Yunho whispered, hugging Jaejoong tightly.  
  
“You must not think of him as gone.”  
  
“But he is…the Changmin we knew and loved is gone.”  
  
“No, he isn’t gone,” Jaejoong told Yunho, pulling away from him and taking Yunho’s hand and placing it over his stomach. “He’s right here.”  
  
Yunho looked down into Jaejoong big blue eyes, unable to shake the feeling of unbearable loss. “It’s not the same.”  
  
Jaejoong looked up at Yunho and promised, “No, but it will be okay. It will be. You will love this baby, because this baby is Changmin.”  
  
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye…a baby…it’s…not the same…it’s…” Yunho paused, unable to finish his sentence.  
  
Jaejoong covered Yunho’s hand with both of his. “No, it will be different. Very different, but he will need us more than ever. One day this life inside of me will become your Changmin…our wonderful, brilliant Changmin.”  
  
SooYoung turned away from the broken hearted couple, and quickly walked away. Putting distance between them, trying desperately to hide her guilt at not being able to ease their pain, and praying that her faith in Changmin wasn’t misplaced.


End file.
